DETROIT — President Donald Trump's campaign appealed Wednesday in a U.S. Supreme Court case seeking to overturn Michigan's election results based on claims that have been rejected by lower courts, election experts and testimony in legislative hearings.
Trump sought to intervene in the Texas attorney general's lawsuit Wednesday, a day before the state's deadline to respond to the suit from Attorney General Ken Paxton. Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin also are named as defendants in the case.
Trump signaled his intent to intervene Wednesday morning, noting: "This is the big one. Our Country needs a victory!"
The campaign's motion to intervene argues that "election officials in each of defendant states altered or otherwise failed to enforce state election laws" during the 2020 election under the guise of responding to the pandemic.
The campaign argued it isn't necessary for it "to prove that fraud occurred, however; it is only necessary to demonstrate that the elections in the defendant states materially deviated from the 'manner' of choosing electors established by their respective state Legislatures."
Trump's campaign questioned results that had him underperforming in Michigan and the other defendant states while other Republicans succeeded. Republican candidates, the lawsuit argued, rode to victory on Trump's "coattails" even as he inexplicably had "no coat" to cross the finish line.
"These things just don't normally happen, and a large percentage of the American people know that something is deeply amiss," the campaign argued.
Also on Wednesday, 17 states filed in support of Texas' lawsuit: Missouri, Florida, Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Tennessee. All of the states have Republican attorneys general.
The states argued they all had common interest in ensuring secretaries of state do not usurp the role of the Legislature in making election law.
Paxton, a Republican, filed his suit against Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, arguing that Michigan had used the COVID-19 pandemic to unlawfully mail absentee ballot applications to all of Michigan's registered voters. He also took issue with her decision to allow for electronic absentee ballot applications.
The lawsuit seeks an order calling Michigan's election results unconstitutional, stopping the state from choosing electors based on the popular vote and requiring the Legislature to appoint its own electors in a way that doesn't conflict with the Constitution — or appoint no electors at all.
The FBI currently is investigating claims that Paxton unlawfully used his office to benefit an Austin, Texas, real estate developer, The Associated Press reported last month. The claims were made by senior lawyers in his office. Paxton has denied wrongdoing and resisted calls for his resignation.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, called the filing a "publicity stunt" that was "beneath the dignity" of Paxton's office and the people of Texas.
"The erosion of confidence in our democratic system isn't attributable to the good people of Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia or Pennsylvania but rather to partisan officials, like Mr. Paxton, who place loyalty to a person over loyalty to their country," Nessel said in a Tuesday statement.
Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican and Michigan native, slammed the Texas lawsuit Wednesday calling it "simply madness."
"The idea of supplanting the vote of the people with partisan legislators is so completely out of our national character that it's simply mad," Romney told reporters on Capitol Hill. "Of course the president has the right to challenge results in court, to have recounts. But this effort to subvert the vote of the people is dangerous and destructive of the cause of democracy."
Trump has lobbied lawmakers in swing states to intervene in the electoral process to select electors favorable to the president and in conflict with the popular vote. But Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said Michigan lawmakers during a November meeting with Trump told him state law does not give legislators a say in awarding electoral votes.
On Thursday, the Clarklake Republican's spokeswoman did not delve into the legality of the Legislature's intervention in the electoral process in response to the Texas lawsuit.
"Regardless of the outcome, Sen. Shirkey hopes the court responds in a swift manner to resolve this issue," said Shirkey's spokeswoman, Amber McCann.
Michigan's Democratic electors were sent letters notifying them of the Dec. 14 Electoral College meeting on Nov. 23, hours after the Board of State Canvassers certified the state's election results.
State Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens ruled in August that Benson had the power to issue absentee ballot applications and, in September, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel upheld Stephens in a 2-1 ruling.
In addition, several groups around the state sent unsolicited absentee ballot applications, including the state Democratic and Republican parties.
In June, Benson announced an online platform for voters to digitally submit their absentee voter ballot application, which they had previously been able to do by scanning and emailing signed applications to clerks.
In order to use the new platform, voters had to have a Michigan's driver's license or state ID and a Social Security number. Once the application was completed, voters then used the tool to send the handwritten signature from their driver's license or state ID and completed application to the local clerk through the qualified voter file.
Voters still were required to cast their absentee ballots in the traditional way, by filling out the absentee ballot and signing the envelope which is then matched to the signature on file.
Six Michigan Republicans seeking to overturn Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's 154,000-vote win in Michigan are expected to appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a federal judge's dismissal of their plea for emergency relief.
The group, represented by conservative attorney Sidney Powell, had asked U.S. Eastern District Judge Linda Parker to order Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to sign off on certified election results that state "President Donald Trump is the winner of the election."
The suit also sought an impoundment of all Michigan "voting machines and software" for expert inspection.
Parker called the suit an effort to "ignore the will of millions of voters" and noted it was "less about achieving relief" than it was about "the impact of their allegations on people's faith in the democratic process and their trust in our government."
