CNN now reports that at least 140 Republican members of the House of Representatives now intend to join Rep. Mo Brooks’ planned Electoral College challenge to toss out the electoral votes from battleground states where credible accusations of widespread voter fraud abound.
This afternoon, CNN’s Jake Tapper claimed that two House Republicans informed him “at least 140 Republican Members of the House” will join Brooks’ objections on January 6.
If one U.S. Senator joins the objection in writing, then the joint session of Congress will break and the House and Senate will independently examine whether each contested state should have its electoral votes counted.
2 House Republicans tell me they expect as of now that at least 140 Republican Members of the House will on Jan 6 object to and vote against the Electoral College results showing President-elect Biden won
— Jake Tapper 🦅 (@jaketapper) December 31, 2020
Thus far, only Sen. Josh Hawley has committed filling this role by joining the objection in the Senate, saying he is morally and Constitutionally bound to do so due to the apparent disregard for the law observed in how several states conducted their elections.
Today, National File reported that, in a conference call with all Republican senators, McConnell angrily demanded an explanation from Hawley for his plan to join the objection. After several periods of prolonged silence, it became apparent that Hawley was never on the conference call.
This comes after Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville, who was expected to join the objection on January 6, was reportedly pressured by McConnell to “stab Trump in the back” during the joint session of Congress.
If the objection by 140 or more Republican members of the House is joined by one Senator, Hawley, and the Democrat-led House ultimately disagrees with the Republican-led Senate on which states should have their electoral votes counted, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate and the presiding officer of the joint session, would then be charged with casting a tie breaking vote.
Should Pence, using his tie breaking vote, throw out electoral votes from contested states with credible accusations of widespread voter fraud, rendering neither President Donald Trump or Joe Biden the requisite 270 votes, then the House would then hold a contingent election. President Trump would almost certainly win this, as the House would vote as quorums of states, meaning that each state would only receive one vote. A majority of states sending Republicans to the House would likely see President Trump reelected.
