Supreme Court Rejects Texas-Led Suit To Overturn Election Results

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out a lawsuit brought to it by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, President Donald Trump and others asking the court to overturn election results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The court's decision not to hear the case is the latest in a long list of court defeats for President Trump's campaign, which has filed dozens of lawsuits nationwide over the past month.

It was also the second time this week the campaign was rebuffed by the Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the justices also turned away an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans.

In its decision made Friday, the high court said Paxton's complaint, which directly attacked election results in states won by President-elect Joe Biden, "has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections" and was filled with claims that failed to withstand basic scrutiny.

The Supreme Court dismissed the case without addressing most of the lawsuit's baseless allegations.

In the complaint filed earlier this week, Trump and his allies argued that the high court should set aside votes in all four states, allowing Republican-led state legislatures to swing the election to the president — something that's never happened in U.S. history.

Related story: Texas Officials React To SCOTUS Presidential Election Ruling

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas both partially dissented, saying they would have heard Texas' complaint; however, they would not have done as Texas wanted pending resolution of the lawsuit, and set aside Biden's 62 electoral votes gained in those states.

Three Trump appointees sit on the high court. In his push to get the most recent of his nominees, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, confirmed quickly, Trump said she would be needed for any post-election lawsuits.

Barrett appears to have participated in both cases this week, according to The Associated Press, though none of Trump's appointees noted a dissent in either of this week's cases.

Though widely expected by legal experts to fail, the Texas case still drew the support of 17 Republican attorneys general and 126 Republican members of Congress, including House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

Meanwhile, the four states sued by Texas called on the court to reject the case as meritless. They were backed by another 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Trump had called the lawsuit “the big one” that would end with the Supreme Court undoing Biden’s substantial Electoral College majority and allowing Trump to serve another four years in the White House.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel warned before the court's ruling that if Texas had won, “It is the end of democracy in the United States of America, and that is not hyperbole. It’s just a fact.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.