WaPo asks every GOP member of Congress which reality they inhabit
We know for sure that Mo Brooks lives in the Phantom Zone, or is it on Bizarro World.
The Post is asking every Republican member of Congress the same three questions today. We will report back their answers.
The questions are: pic.twitter.com/P1ptrZU4cr
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 3, 2020
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) has been telling colleagues and allies that he plans to challenge the Electoral College votes when Congress officially certifies Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, as long as a Senate Republican will join him in the long-shot effort https://t.co/GIVjOFroxR pic.twitter.com/1GYCZraV0G
— POLITICO (@politico) December 2, 2020
Brooks confirmed his plans in a phone interview, adding that he is still considering objecting to the vote-counting process even if no one joins him — though he acknowledged that would be more of a symbolic protest. Brooks, echoing President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud without providing evidence, argued that the election was “badly flawed” and that most mail-in voting is “unconstitutional.”
“In my judgment, if only lawful votes by eligible American citizens were cast, Donald Trump won the Electoral College by a significant margin, and Congress’s certification should reflect that,” Brooks said. “This election was stolen by the socialists engaging in extraordinary voter fraud and election theft measures.”
Brooks, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said he has had “indirect communication” with some senators about potentially joining forces, though he declined to elaborate further. He also said he’s discussed the procedural maneuver with some members of GOP leadership, but they gave him neither a “thumbs up” nor a “thumbs down,” Brooks said.
As we noted here yesterday, one lawmaker from both the Senate and House needs to challenge the results in order to force a deliberation on the matter. And even then, the gambit to overturn the election results in Congress is almost certain to fail, given the makeup of the House and Senate.
JUST IN: President Trump hits Attorney General Bill Barr after AG says DOJ hasn't uncovered widespread voter fraud in 2020 election: "They haven't looked very hard."
READ MORE: https://t.co/ybIPEfDwiy pic.twitter.com/7qGzF3hnsx
— The Hill (@thehill) December 3, 2020
Why it matters: Trump has weighed firing Barr in recent days, seething about the attorney general’s statement this week that the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election.
- Those comments — in tandem with the delay of findings from the Durham investigation, which Trump hopes will damage his political enemies — have come close to pushing Trump over the edge.
- Trump is seeking to install someone at the head of the Justice Department who would unquestioningly do his bidding, but it’s not clear which government employee would be willing to go further than Barr in satisfying the president’s demands, sources tell Axios’ Jonathan Swan.
What they’re saying: “Well, he hasn’t done anything. So, he hasn’t looked,” Trump told reporters Thursday when asked about Barr’s assertion that the DOJ has not found evidence to back up his claims of voter fraud.
- “When he looks, he’ll see the kind of evidence that right now you’re seeing in the Georgia Senate … so, they haven’t looked very hard, which is a disappointment, to be honest with you.”
NEW: Trump refuses to say whether he still has confidence in Attorney General Bill Barr.
Pressed by reporters, he responded: "Uhhh … ask me that in a number of weeks from now." https://t.co/GrthOBf5ny
— Axios (@axios) December 3, 2020
