SCOTUS rejects Texas suit supported by the Kraken Caucus and its 'unelected dictator'

Lack of standing is the reason for SCOTUS dismissing the Ken Paxton suit to overturn the votes of four states. Meritless frivolity remains.

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#BREAKING: #SCOTUS throws out Texas's suit attempting to challenge presidential election results in four battleground states, granting Texas leave to file its complaint but summarily dismissing its suit for lack of standing:https://t.co/OnYMTpXuhQ

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) December 11, 2020

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a long-shot bid by President Trump and the state of Texas to overturn the results in four states won by Democrat Joe Biden, blocking the president’s legal path to reverse his reelection loss.

The court’s unsigned order was short: “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.”

Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Clarence Thomas, as they have in the past, said they did not believe the court had the authority to simply reject Texas’s request. “I would therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint but would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue.”

Trump, who has appointed three of the court’s nine members, has long viewed the Supreme Court as something of an ace-in-the-hole, and called for the justices to display “courage” and rescue him in post-election litigation.

[…]

Trump has refused to acknowledge defeat, instead embarking on a noisy campaign to discredit the election. He has made unproven charges of corruption and a rigged election in states he lost and unsubstantiated claims of illegal voting, votes switched by computer software and rampant fraud.

www.washingtonpost.com/…

Darn that sedition. One representative, Bill Pascrell jr (D-NJ), admonished the now 126 GOP members of the House who signed on to the Texas AG’s plan to get himself a pardon by appealing to SCOTUS to overturn the election. This Kraken Caucus as named by Jake Tapper, decided to use this stunt to pledge their Trumpian allegiance in what MSM called a “long-shot”. The 2022 campaign in 126 districts has begun.

“A press release masquerading as a lawsuit”

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Today I’m calling on House leaders to refuse to seat any Members trying to overturn the election and make donald trump an unelected dictator. pic.twitter.com/icTmGKCpuR— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) December 11, 2020

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The text of the 14th Amendment expressly forbids Members of Congress from engaging in rebellion against the United States. Trying to overturn a democratic election and install a dictator seems like a pretty clear example of that. pic.twitter.com/VMnDfd0sFx

— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) December 11, 2020

The Kraken Caucus — 106 House Republicans (and 18 state attorneys general) who signed onto a anti-democracy lawsuit to disenfranchise millions of their fellow Americans, based on lies and conspiracy theories. https://t.co/kqECtVRY55

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) December 10, 2020

Morning Shots: You wanted a list of Republicans who are turning their backs on democracy? Well, they compiled it themselves. Ladies, and gentlemen, the Kraken caucus:https://t.co/YrsBUzzuBN

— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) December 11, 2020

Welcome to the Countdown Journal. There are three (3) days until the Electoral College votes, and then 40 days until the Inauguration of Joe Biden.

A reminder that Texas’s frivolous, clownish, anti-democratic, “seditious abuse of the judicial process” is going nowhere.

But it felt like a landmark moment in the ongoing deracination of conservative principles when 18 states and a majority of the Republican congressional caucus signed on to the attempt to nullify the votes of tens of millions of Americas. (BTW: here is a thorough fact check of the five conspiracy theories in the Texas attorney general’s lawsuit.)

Over the last years, we’ve grown used to disillusionment and soul-crushing disappointment. But what do we make of this slouch toward raw authoritarianism?

Jonah Goldberg notes that the Texas lawsuit “is a betrayal of everything defenders of federalism and the Electoral College claim to believe.”

The decision by Republicans to embrace the attempt to steal the election, he writes, is “an act of cynical, unpatriotic, undemocratic hypocrisy unrivaled in American history, a pure power play on behalf of a president whose disregard for the very Constitution these people have long claimed to adore is total. It is shameful. Infuriatingly shameful.”

pic.twitter.com/2eL9MPOtfm— John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) December 10, 2020

https://t.co/YrsBUzzuBN

Alabama
Rep. Gary Palmer, Fifth Congressional District
Rep. Mo Brooks, Fifth Congressional District

Rep. Bradley Byrne, First Congressional District

Rep. Robert Aderholt, Fourth Congressional District

Arizona
Rep. Andy Biggs, Fifth Congressional District

Rep. Debbie Lesko, Eighth Congressional District

Arkansas
Rep. Rick Crawford, First Congressional District

Rep. Bruce Westerman, Fourth Congressional District

California
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, 23rd Congressional District

Rep. Ken Calvert, 42nd Congressional District

Rep. Doug LaMalfa, First Congressional District

Rep. Tom McClintock, Fourth Congressional District

Colorado
Rep. Ken Buck, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Doug Lamborn, Fifth Congressional District

Florida
Rep. Matt Gaetz, First Congressional District

Rep. Ted Yoho, Third Congressional District

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, 12th Congressional District

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, 25th Congressional District

Rep. John Rutherford, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Daniel Webster, 11th Congressional District

Rep. Michael Waltz, Sixth Congressional District

Rep. Ross Spano, 15th Congressional District

Rep. Neal Dunn, Second Congressional District

Georgia
Rep. Doug Collins, Ninth Congressional District

Rep. Rick W. Allen, 12th Congressional District

Rep. Earl Carter, First Congressional District

Rep. Drew Ferguson, Third Congressional District

Rep. Austin Scott, Eighth Congressional District

Idaho
Rep. Russ Fulcher, First Congressional District

Rep. Mike Simpson, Second Congressional District

Illinois
Rep. Mike Bost, 12th Congressional District

Rep. Darin LaHood, 18th Congressional District

Indiana
Rep. James Baird, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Jim Banks, Third Congressional District

Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, Ninth Congressional District

Rep. Greg Pence, Sixth Congressional District

Rep. Jackie Walorski, Second Congressional District

Iowa

Rep. Steve King, Fourth Congressional District

Kansas
Rep. Ron Estes, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Roger Marshall, First Congressional District

Louisiana
Rep. Steve Scalise, First Congressional District

Rep. Mike Johnson, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Ralph Abraham, Fifth Congressional District

Rep. Clay Higgins, Third Congressional District

Maryland
Rep. Andy Harris, First Congressional District

Michigan
Rep. Jack Bergman, First Congressional District

Rep. Bill Huizenga, Second Congressional District

Rep. Tim Walberg, Seventh Congressional District

Rep. John Moolenaar, Fourth Congressional District

Minnesota
Rep. Tom Emmer, Sixth Congressional District

Rep. Jim Hagedorn, First Congressional District

Mississippi
Rep. Michael Guest, Third Congressional District

Rep. Trent Kelly, First Congressional District

Missouri
Rep. Sam Graves, Sixth Congressional District

Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Jason Smith, Eighth Congressional District

Rep. Ann Wagner, Second Congressional District

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Third Congressional District

Montana
Rep. Greg Gianforte, at-large district

Nebraska
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, First Congressional District

Rep. Adrian Smith, Third Congressional District

New Jersey
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, Second Congressional District

New York
Rep. Elise Stefanik, 21st Congressional District

Rep. Lee Zeldin, First Congressional District

North Carolina
Rep. Dan Bishop, Ninth Congressional District

Rep. Ted Budd, 13th Congressional District

Rep. Virginia Foxx, Fifth Congressional District

Rep. Richard Hudson, Eighth Congressional District

Rep. David Rouzer, Seventh Congressional District

Rep. Gregory Murphy, Third Congressional District

Ohio
Rep. Jim Jordan, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Bob Gibbs, Seventh Congressional District

Rep. Bill Johnson, Sixth Congressional District

Rep. Robert E. Latta, Fifth Congressional District

Rep. Brad Wenstrup, Second Congressional District

Oklahoma
Rep. Kevin Hern, First Congressional District

Rep. Markwayne Mullin, Second Congressional District

Pennsylvania
Rep. John Joyce, 13th Congressional District

Rep. Fred Keller, 12th Congressional District

Rep. Mike Kelly, 16th Congressional District

Rep. Dan Meuser, Ninth Congressional District

Rep. Scott Perry, 10th Congressional District

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, 14th Congressional District

Rep. Glenn Thompson, 15th Congressional District

South Carolina
Rep. Jeff Duncan, Third Congressional District

Rep. Ralph Norman, Fifth Congressional District

Rep. Tom Rice, Seventh Congressional District

Rep. William Timmons, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Joe Wilson, Second Congressional District

Tennessee
Rep. Tim Burchett, Second Congressional District

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Third Congressional District

Rep. Mark Green, Seventh Congressional District

Rep. David Kustoff, Eighth Congressional District

Rep. John Rose, Sixth Congressional District

Rep. Scott DesJarlais, Fourth Congressional District

Texas
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Second Congressional District

Rep. Kevin Brady, Eighth Congressional District

Rep. Michael Burgess, 26th Congressional District

Rep. Michael Cloud, 27th Congressional District

Rep. Mike Conaway, 11th Congressional District

Rep. Bill Flores, 17th Congressional District

Rep. Louie Gohmert, First Congressional District

Rep. Lance Gooden, Fifth Congressional District

Rep. Kenny Marchant, 24th Congressional District

Rep. Randy Weber, 14th Congressional District

Rep. Roger Williams, 25th Congressional District

Rep. Ron Wright, Sixth Congressional District

Rep. Jodey Arrington, 19th Congressional District

Rep. Brian Babin, 36th Congressional District

Virginia
Rep. Ben Cline, Sixth Congressional District

Rep. Rob Wittman, First Congressional District

Rep. H. Morgan Griffith, Ninth Congressional District

Washington
Rep. Dan Newhouse, Fourth Congressional District

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Fifth Congressional District

West Virginia
Rep. Carol Miller, Third Congressional District

Rep. Alex Mooney, Second Congressional District

Wisconsin
Rep. Tom Tiffany, Seventh Congressional District

The Texas lawsuit is not going anywhere. Biden will be sworn in on Jan. 20. However, every @GOP lawmaker who signed onto this soiled toilet paper of a pleading should be held in the upmost contempt by every American for this ineffectual yet seditious act. It’s beyond the pale. https://t.co/SzSAUDwScn— Andrew C Laufer, Esq (@lauferlaw) December 11, 2020

“Trumplets who can’t put on their own pants” — Michael Steele

All 50 states and D.C. have now certified their 2020 election results:

Biden 81,282,376 (51.3%)
Trump 74,222,576 (46.9%)

And the whiny little wingnuts just can't accept they lost so they're having a tantrum

The main problem w/this country is a mass case of arrested development

— digby (@digby56) December 11, 2020

“Right now, the most serious attempt to overthrow our democracy in the history of our of country is underway. Those who are pushing to make Donald Trump President, no matter the outcome of the election, are engaged in a treachery against their nation.”

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I just talked to @ChrisMurphyCT about his big floor speech ripping Republicans.

“If this becomes normalized,” he tells me, “they will steal an election two years from now or four years from now.”

The GOP has “enemies of democracy inside its top ranks.”https://t.co/FlhH0F1SXH

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 11, 2020

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It’s like a mirror-image version of what George Kennan asserted about the Soviet Union — that the greatest threat to the system would come from contradictions within the system, not from the actions of an external adversary. https://t.co/ZdQrqM8GAX

— Edward Wong (@ewong) December 11, 2020

Breaking News

Lack of standing is the reason for SCOTUS dismissing the Ken Paxton suit to overturn the votes of four states. Meritless frivolity remains.

Trump has refused to acknowledge defeat, instead embarking on a noisy campaign to discredit the election. He has made unproven charges of corruption and a rigged election in states he lost and unsubstantiated claims of illegal voting, votes switched by computer software and rampant fraud.

“A press release masquerading as a lawsuit”

“Trumplets who can’t put on their own pants” — Michael Steele

“Right now, the most serious attempt to overthrow our democracy in the history of our of country is underway. Those who are pushing to make Donald Trump President, no matter the outcome of the election, are engaged in a treachery against their nation.”