The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday tossed the lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton—and backed by 17 other states and scores of Republican lawmakers—seeking to overturn the election of Joe Biden.
In just the latest of a ridiculously long string of legal challenges, all three justices on the high court who were appointed by Trump joined the majority in rejecting the suit. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, saying the court should have heard the case.
The court’s brief, unsigned order said Texas had no standing to challenge the results of the election in four other states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
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“Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot,” it read.
More than 100 members of Congress had joined the lawsuit, along with the president himself—who touted it as “the big one” on Twitter and has hung his hopes on Supreme Court action since he launched his evidence-free crusade to prove there was widespread fraud. He reacted to the ruling on Twitter late Friday with a call to “fight on” despite the Supreme Court having “really let us down.”
Legal experts viewed the suit as nothing more than a long shot, last-ditch effort for Trump and his allies to save face, with many questioning how Texas could even claim to have a say in how other states conduct elections. Even Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) expressed confusion about the “legal theory” behind the lawsuit.
In a statement responding to the dismissal, the Texas Republican Party reiterated the baseless claims of unconstitutional voter fraud alleged in the suit and floated the idea of secession: “Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.”
Thus far, all the suits attempting to subvert the certified outcome of the election have failed, with a cavalcade of judges seemingly consulting their thesauruses to come up with new ways to say the challenges were a joke—and a highly improper one at that.
Biden’s team welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision late Friday.
“The Supreme Court has decisively and speedily rejected the latest of Donald Trump and his allies’ attacks on the democratic process,” Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Gwin said in a statement.
Trump has proclaimed for more than a month now that the election was stolen from him by a widespread clandestine fraud scheme, though he has failed to provide credible evidence. His lawyers, most notably Rudy Giuliani, have staged what amounts to a lawyerly traveling circus as they tout his claims from state to state.
Even before the Nov. 3 election, Trump had appeared to be both keenly aware of the likelihood that he would be defeated, and confident that the Supreme Court would rescue him if that were the case.
During Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination and confirmation process, the president said he wanted her on the court so that any suit he brought against the outcome of the election would face a friendly conservative majority. Barrett was among those to reject the Texas-led suit, however.
While Trump has refused to concede—and may never do so—his administration has authorized the transition of power to Biden. Many in his inner circle, including his wife Melania and daughter Ivanka, have begun setting up their transitions out of the White House.
