The Trump campaign has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court in an effort to reverse three Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases “which illegally changed Pennsylvania’s mail balloting law immediately before and after the 2020 presidential election in violation of Article II of the United States Constitution and Bush v. Gore.”
? BREAKING ?
@realDonaldTrump Campaign files a petition for writ of certiorari to the US. Supreme Court to reverse a trio of Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases which illegally changed Pennsylvania’s mail balloting law
Full Statement ⬇️ https://t.co/abjsOT0pNP
— Boris Epshteyn (@BorisEP) December 20, 2020
Full statement here:
“Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., President Trump’s campaign committee, today filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the US. Supreme Court to reverse a trio of Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases which illegally changed Pennsylvania’s mail balloting law immediately before and after the 2020 presidential election in violation of Article II of the United States Constitution and Bush v. Gore. This represents the Campaign’s first independent U.S. Supreme Court filing and seeks relief based on the same Constitutional arguments successfully raised in Bush v. Gore.
“This petition follows a related Pennsylvania case where Justice Alito and two other justices observed ‘the constitutionality of the [Pennsylvania] Supreme Court’s decision [extending the statutory deadline for receipt of mail ballots from 8 pm on election day to 5 pm three days later] … has national importance, and there is a strong likelihood that the State Supreme Court decision violates the Federal Constitution.’
“The Campaign’s petition seeks to reverse three decisions which eviscerated the Pennsylvania Legislature’s protections against mail ballot fraud, including (a) prohibiting election officials checking whether signatures on mail ballots are genuine during canvassing on Election Day, (b) eliminating the right of campaigns to challenge mail ballots during canvassing for forged signatures and other irregularities, (c) holding that the rights of campaigns to observe the canvassing of mail ballots only meant that they only were allowed to be ‘in the room’ – in this case, the Philadelphia Convention Center – the size of several football fields, and (d) eliminating the statutory requirements that voters properly sign, address, and date mail ballots.
“The petition seeks all appropriate remedies, including vacating the appointment of electors committed to Joseph Biden and allowing the Pennsylvania General Assembly to select their replacements. The Campaign also moved for expedited consideration, asking the Supreme Court to order responses by December 23 and a reply by December 24 to allow the U.S. Supreme Court to rule before Congress meets on January 6 to consider the votes of the electoral college.”
– Rudy Giuliani, attorney for President Trump
The president has been highly critical of SCOTUS after they dismissed the Texas lawsuit last week:
I am very disappointed in the United States Supreme Court, and so is our great country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2020
We should warn you, however, that legal experts on Twitter don’t think this will go anywhere.
Here’s University of Texas Law Professor Steve Vladeck:
#SCOTUS has already had three opportunities to take up election-related challenges arising out of Pennsylvania. It’s turned away two of them with no noted dissents (Kelly and Texas), and has been sitting on the third (PA GOP) for six weeks. This isn’t going to go any differently. https://t.co/pbFqnnHoD1
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) December 20, 2020
And the president could have filed this lawsuit earlier but did not:
It’s also more than a little ironic that the Trump campaign is only now asking for “expedited consideration” of this new challenge to three PA Supreme Court decisions, the most recent of which was decided *four weeks* ago (and the first of which was decided in October).
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) December 20, 2020
The campaign is arguing that this delay doesn’t matter:
They waited until a month and a half after the election, and until after the Electors had voted, to file a petition asking SCOTUS to review.
Despite one of these cases having been decided a week and a half BEFORE the election
— Akiva Cohen (@AkivaMCohen) December 20, 2020
More from Fox News’ Chad Pergram:
A) Trump campaign asks SCOTUS to take case on 3 PA Supreme Court cases, asserting mail-in voting violated Constitution & SCOTUS ruling in Bush v. Gore
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2020
B) If the High Court does grant certiorari to hear the case, this REALLY opens up a massive, unprecedented Constitutional thicket.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2020
C) The Electoral College has met and voted for Biden. Certificates of election are now en route to the Capitol. They are technically due here by December 23.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2020
D) On January 6, the NEW House and Senate convene in a Joint Session of Congress to certify the results of the electoral vote.
Congress can pretty much do whatever it wants on January 6. Certify or not certify.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2020
E) Although the latter would be pretty extraordinary. Like most things on Capitol Hill, it comes down to the math. If there is a challenge to any state’s electoral slate, it takes a vote by BOTH the House and Senate to toss out a state’s electoral votes.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2020
F) So, even if the Supreme Court were to take the case, and rule in favor of the Trump campaign, it’s unclear how such a decision could influence the certification of the Electoral College in Congress.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2020
G) It may not have any impact at all. Some lawmakers could decide to vote to nullify Pennsylvania’s slate, based on the High Court’s decision.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2020
H) But the horse may be out of the barn on this one. It’s hard to see Constitutionally how the Supreme Court has a role in this. This decision of certifying the Electoral College vote is now up to Congress on January 6 under mandate of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 20, 2020
***
