Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly sent a personal email on Wednesday to fellow House Republicans asking them to add their signatures to an amicus brief supporting a long-shot lawsuit led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to delay the certification of presidential electors in four battleground states won by President-elect Joe Biden, according to CNN and CBS.
On Wednesday, the Trump campaign, as well 17 red states, formally indicated their support of Paxton’s lawsuit, which seeks to reverse Trump’s defeat in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Johnson reportedly sent a personal email to his fellow House GOP members that day soliciting signatures from them in support of the amicus brief.
“The simple objective of our brief is to affirm for the court (and our constituents back home) our serious concerns with the integrity of our election system,” Johnson wrote in the email, according to CBS. “We are not seeking to independently litigate the particular allegations of fraud in our brief (this is not our place as amici). We will merely state our belief that the broad scope of the various allegations and irregularities in the subject states merits careful, timely review by the Supreme Court.”
Johnson claimed that Trump called him Wednesday morning “to express his great appreciation for our effort” to file the amicus brief, according to CBS.
“He said he will be anxiously awaiting the final list to review,” Johnson wrote, according to CNN and CBS.
President Trump called me this morning to let me know how much he appreciates the amicus brief we are filing on behalf of Members of Congress. Indeed, "this is the big one!" https://t.co/eV1aoNlpvq
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) December 9, 2020
Johnson wasn’t the only one who got a call from Trump on Wednesday morning amid the sitting president’s last ditch efforts to delegitimize the election process and overturn election results.
Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward on Wednesday gleefully touted that Trump called her up that morning asking her for an “update” on her party’s efforts to challenge the state’s election results. The presidential call came a day after the state’s Supreme Court swatted down her challenge to void President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
