2 IL Republicans Join Effort To Overturn Presidential Election

ILLINOIS — Two Republican congressmen from Illinois signed on to an amicus brief in support of the Texas attorney general's attempt to overturn the presidential election results in four states in favor of President Donald Trump.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing four states whose election results turned the race in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden. The suit filed with the U.S. Supreme Court alleges officials in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia "ignored election laws" and exploited the coronavirus pandemic, skewing the results in Biden's favor.

In a news release announcing the lawsuit, Paxton said each of the states flooded residents with unlawful ballot applications and ballots while ignoring statutory requirements as to how they were received, evaluated and counted.

U.S. Reps. Mike Bost of Murphysboro and Darin LaHood of Peoria have signed on with 104 other Republicans on Paxton's amicus brief.

But fellow Illinois Republican Reps. Rodney Davis (13th District), John Shimkus (15th District) and Adam Kinzinger (16th District) did not sign on to the amicus.

Kinzinger, of Channahon, last month dismissed Trump's claim on Fox News that the FBI and Department of Justice may have rigged the Nov. 3 election in favor of Biden and has expressed criticism of the president at various times.

"The @FBI did not rig the election. If you find yourself believing they did, please stop, and say it out loud, and you will realize how silly it sounds," Kinzinger tweeted, accusing the president of "simply flooding the zone with baseless conspiracies again."

Meanwhile, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Thursday joined a coalition of 23 other attorneys general urging the Supreme Court to reject Paxton's lawsuit.

Raoul said the efforts to invalidate the four states' election results are "baseless," calling it a "frivolous, unfounded lawsuit."

Raoul said the people of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia have spoken decisively, adding, "It is concerning and dangerous that the president and his allies have spent the weeks following the election seeking to undermine its results, as elections are at the very core of our democracy. Further, it is unconscionable that a state attorney general would use his authority to file a frivolous, unfounded lawsuit aimed at overturning an election."

Raoul noted that according to the Department of Homeland Security, the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history.” Biden was declared the winner in all four states at the heart of the lawsuit, and subsequent recounts in Wisconsin and Georgia confirmed the results.

Trump has refused to concede but has made statements acknowledging the Biden administration.

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