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WASHINGTON: The United States Supreme Court on Friday (December 11) abruptly ended a far-reaching lawsuit brought by Texas and backed by President Donald Trump that sought to discard the results of voting in four states, leaving him it was a crushing setback in his quest to undo his electoral defeat to President-elect Joe Biden.
The justices in a short order rejected Texas’ offer to file the extraordinary challenge against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin directly before the Supreme Court, as allowed in some cases of inter-state litigation under a legal doctrine called “original jurisdiction.”
The order said that Texas had no legal capacity to file the claim.
“Texas has not demonstrated a judicially recognizable interest in the way another state conducts its elections,” the court said in the unsigned order.
Two of the court’s conservatives, Judge Samuel Alito and Judge Clarence Thomas, said they would have allowed Texas to sue, but they would not have stopped the four states from finalizing their election results.
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The case was brought Tuesday by the Republican attorney general of Texas, a Trump ally, against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Republican president filed a motion Wednesday to intervene and become a plaintiff.
All four states in a court filing Thursday asked justices to reject the lawsuit, which they said had no factual or legal basis.
The Trump campaign and its allies had already lost numerous lawsuits in state and federal courts challenging the election results. Trump has falsely claimed that he won the Nov. 3 election and has made unsubstantiated allegations of widespread election fraud and a “rigged” system against him. State election officials have said they have found no evidence of such fraud. Attorneys for Trump and his allies have presented no evidence in court of the type of fraud he has alleged.
Texas has asked justices to dismiss the election results in all four states. Biden won all four states. Trump had won them in the 2016 election.
All four states in a court filing Thursday asked justices to reject the lawsuit, which they said had no factual or legal basis.
