Last Updated on January 1, 2021
An impressive 23 Tennessee state legislators, led by Rep. Bruce Griffey, have published a letter sent to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, urging her to join Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) in objecting to the Electoral College count on January 6.
While over 140 Republicans in the House of Representative are reportedly planning to join the effort championed by Rep. Mo Brooks in the House, thus far only Hawley has agreed to object in the Senate, much to Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s chagrin.
The letter, the first addressee being Blackburn, is also addressed to Tennessee’s other U.S. Representatives and Senators.
“By now you are aware of The Honorable Mo Brooks’ letter,” the letter begins. “Brooks called for a thorough investigation into the extensive voter fraud, illegal voting, and election theft reported in the weeks subsequent to the November 3rd election.”
The letter later lists “numerous instances of outright voter fraud in four states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Wisconsin.”
Among these points are:
- Ballots were accepted without postmarks, or with backdated postmarks
- In Wisconsin and Michigan, poll workers were observed running ballots through tabulation machines as many as eight or nine times
- There are Equal Protection Clause violations in every single of the six contested states
- In Arizona, there are 75,000 lost or destroyed absentee ballots which were improperly tabulated
“Yet very few of these irregularities have been investigated in a professional manner” by law enforcement or elected leaders, the letter continues. “Our nation’s judiciary has sadly shown cowardice and refused to listen to the many claims of impropriety.”
“Importantly, this request is not merely an election challenge for President Donald Trump,” the letter explains. “The law of the land in the United States has, until recently, been our Constitution. What limits on governmental power truly exist if governments may exceed those limits placed by our Constitution with impunity?”
The letter concludes, “We, the undersigned, ask you on January 6th to vocally support the rule of law,” by “joining Rep. Mo Brooks in objecting to the contested electors from those states where Republicans have offered opposing slates of electors.”
A successful challenge on January 6 could quickly lead to a contingent election, in which the House of Representatives, with one vote per state, would be assigned with electing the next President. A majority of states have sent Republican legislators to represent them in the House, meaning President Trump would almost certainly be reelected.
