Elections

Last-ditch lawsuit arguing Pence has ‘sole discretion’ to select electors thrown out

Published

4 years ago

January 2, 2021

A lawsuit arguing Vice President Mike Pence has the “sole discretion” to name which electoral votes are valid was thrown out of court Friday by a Trump-appointed judge.

The case, led by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) along with several representatives from Arizona, was a last minute effort to give President Trump a path to staying in the White House. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, however, threw the suit out claiming the plaintiffs lacked standings.

An appeal has been filed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge rules “no standing” in my lawsuit to toss fraudulent Biden electors. If I don’t have standing, no one does. When no one ever has standing, what good is a court system? My response on @Newsmax below #SaveTheRepublic #StopTheSteal https://t.co/HLQCM6S5CE
— Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) January 2, 2021

The case claimed that the Electoral Count Act of 1887 violates the 12th Amendment, according to the Daily Wire. The case argued Pence has the sole authority to deem which electors are valid and which will cast their vote for president. In the case of two or more dueling electors, the now-appealed case was one of the strongest remaining paths for President Trump to win the highly-contested and fraud-saturated election.

As previously reported by SaraACarter.com, “Under current law, the Vice President’s role in certifying the electoral college results is one that is more symbolic. However, this lawsuit seeks to make that role one that is more active and can contest the results over allegations of widespread voter fraud in many key swing states.”

“[P]rovisions of Section 15 of the Electoral Count Act are unconstitutional insofar as they establish procedures for determining which of two or more competing slates of Presidential Electors for a given State are to be counted in the Electoral College, or how objections to a proffered slate are adjudicated, that violate the Twelfth Amendment,” the lawsuit reads, as reported by the Daily Wire.

Louie Gohmert on Newsmax: "But if bottom line is, the court is saying, 'We're not going to touch this. You have no remedy' — basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you gotta go the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM." pic.twitter.com/cZIdGTiQls
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 2, 2021

“This violation occurs because the Electoral Count Act directs the Defendant, Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his capacity as President of the Senate and Presiding Officer over the January 6, 2021 Joint Session of Congress: (1) to count the electoral votes for a State that have been appointed in violation of the Electors Clause; (2) limits or eliminates his exclusive authority and sole discretion under the Twelfth Amendment to determine which slates of electors for a State, or neither, may be counted; and (3) replaces the Twelfth Amendment’s dispute resolution procedure – under which the House of Representatives has sole authority to choose the President,” the lawsuit reads.

Whether the Court of Appeals will see the suit as legal and having a solid argument, will be announced in the coming days.

You can follow Ben Wilson on Twitter @BenDavisWilson

Elections

Canada Beefs up Border Security After Trump Threatened Sweeping Tariffs

Published

2 days ago

December 3, 2024

Sara Carter Staff

In November, president-elect Donald Trump announced on social media that he would impose a 25% tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico if they do not take an active role in containing illegal immigration as well as the level of illicit drugs entering into the United States.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Trump at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, after which the Canadian government vowed to secure the border. “We got, I think, a mutual understanding of what they’re concerned about in terms of border security,” Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc, who accompanied Trudeau at Mar-a-Largo, said of the meeting in an interview with Canadian media. “All of their concerns are shared by Canadians and by the government of Canada.”

“We talked about the security posture currently at the border that we believe to be effective, and we also discussed additional measures and visible measures that we’re going to put in place over the coming weeks,” LeBlanc continued. “And we also established, Rosemary, a personal series of rapport that I think will continue to allow us to make that case.”

The Daily Caller News Foundation reports the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is preparing to beef up its immigration enforcement capabilities by hiring more staff, adding more vehicles and creating more processing facilities, in the chance that there is an immigration surge sparked by Trump’s presidential election victory. The moves are a change in direction from Trudeau’s public declaration in January 2017 that Canada was a “welcoming” country and that “diversity is our strength” just days after Trump was sworn into office the first time.

The Daily Caller notes the differences in response from the Canadian government verses Mexico’s:

Trudeau’s recent overtures largely differ from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has indicated she is not willing to bend the knee to Trump’s tariff threats. The Mexican leader in November said “there will be a response in kind” to any tariff levied on Mexican goods going into the U.S., and she appeared to deny the president-elect’s claims that she agreed to do more to beef up border security in a recent phone call.