Lawsuit to stymie Biden election tossed

A federal judge in Texas has dismissed a long-shot lawsuit by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-texas, that sought to overturn the presidential election, saying neither the congressman nor his allies have legal standing to pursue the case.

The judge’s Friday night ruling tosses out what many election law experts considered a far-fetched theory to challenge the formal mechanism by which President-elect Joe Biden will be affirmed as the winner of the presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle issued an order dismissing the case because, he found, neither Gohmert nor his fellow plaintiffs have a sufficient legal stake in the process to justify the lawsuit. Kernodle was nominated to the federal bench by President Donald Trump.

The judge’s ruling comes less than 12 hours after lawyers for Gohmert filed court papers arguing that Vice President Mike Pence has far more power than the government claims to alter the outcome of the presidential election. It was not immediately clear if Gohmert’s legal team plans to appeal the decision.

Gohmert’s lawyers contended that arguments made by the Justice Department and Congress — that the suit upends established procedures and that Pence is an inappropriate target for the suit — are unfounded.

Gohmert claimed the vice president has the power to effectively pick the next president during the formal recording of electoral college votes by Congress on Wednesday. Pence oversees that ceremony and, as president of the Senate, has the power to declare Biden electors in a handful of key states invalid and instead recognize electors supporting President Trump, the filing contends.