Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) today declared that he will join the Electoral College challenge planned by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) and other allies of President Donald Trump in the House of Representatives.
Hawley is the first Senator to publicly announce he will back the challenge in apparent defiance of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who reportedly has used his extensive influence to keep other Senators from joining.
“I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on January 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws,” Hawley wrote in a statement released on Wednesday.
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“And I cannot vote to certify without pointing out the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden. At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections. But Congress has so far failed to act,” Hawley wrote.
Millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard. I will object on January 6 on their behalf pic.twitter.com/kTaaPPJGHE
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 30, 2020
Hawley has repeatedly sparred with Republicans on issues dear to President Trump, but foreign to Republican leadership. Most recently, Hawley blasted Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) for refusing to consider the President’s request for $2,000 direct stimulus payments.
“Go home and try explaining that to the people of your state,” Hawley told Johnson in the Senate. “Try telling them why this body can bail out the banks… [while] working people are living in their cars.”
Previously, Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama indicated that he would join Brooks’ challenge on January 6, only three days after he is set to take office. However, over the Christmas holiday week, McConnell reportedly contacted Tuberville and instructed him to “knife Trump in the back” on January 6.
Should at least one member of the House and one member of the Senate object to certain states in writing, both will break off from the January 6 joint session of Congress to discuss the evidence indicating a state’s Electoral College votes should not be counted.
Should the House, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and the McConnell-led Senate disagree, then Vice President Mike Pence would be charged with casting a tie breaking vote to either accept the votes or deny them.
Should Pence deny votes from states with credible accusations of widespread voter fraud, Congress would ultimately resort to a contingent election, which President Trump would almost certainly win.
