Mitt Romney blasts fellow Republicans for opposing presidential election certification

SALT LAKE CITY– Republican U.S. Senator and former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney released a statement this weekend in response to an announcement that several Republican senators plan to oppose certification of the presidential election results:

“The egregious ploy to reject electors may enhance the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic. The congressional power to reject electors is reserved for the most extreme and unusual circumstances. These are far from it. More Americans participated in this election than ever before, and they made their choice. President Trump’s lawyers made their case before scores of courts; in every instance, they failed. The Justice Department found no evidence of irregularity sufficient to overturn the election. The Presidential Voter Fraud Commission disbanded without finding such evidence.

“My fellow Senator Ted Cruz and the co-signers of his statement argue that rejection of electors or an election audit directed by Congress would restore trust in the election. Nonsense. This argument ignores the widely perceived reality that Congress is an overwhelmingly partisan body; the American people wisely place greater trust in the federal courts where judges serve for life. Members of Congress who would substitute their own partisan judgement for that of the courts do not enhance public trust, they imperil it.

“Were Congress to actually reject state electors, partisans would inevitably demand the same any time their candidate had lost. Congress, not voters in the respective states, would choose our presidents.

“Adding to this ill-conceived endeavor by some in Congress is the President’s call for his supporters to come to the Capitol on the day when this matter is to be debated and decided. This has the predictable potential to lead to disruption, and worse.

“I could never have imagined seeing these things in the greatest democracy in the world. Has ambition so eclipsed principle?”

U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Senators-Elect Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) issued a statement on Saturday saying that the 2020 election, has “featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.”

The group plans to reject the electors on January 6th until a 10-day audit is completed concerning the election results. The 11 Senators state that the rejection is about election integrity.

“On January 6, it is incumbent on Congress to vote on whether to certify the 2020 election results. That vote is the lone constitutional power remaining to consider and force resolution of the multiple allegations of serious voter fraud….Accordingly, we intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed.”

President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration is expected to take place on January 20th and, according to the constitution, cannot be delayed.

The objection to the results is not expected to succeed as the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives and the Senate both need to vote on the matter.

With protests expected in Washington D.C. on January 6th, there should be a lot of fireworks in the days ahead.