The Inter-Mountain, The Journal, The Intelligencer
CHARLESTON — With yesterday’s safe harbor date for finalizing the presidential election process in the rearview mirror, one of West Virginia’s congressional delegation is pushing a resolution to keep up the challenge to the outcome that saw Republican President Donald Trump losing re-election.
U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., introduced two resolutions calling for Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the House as a whole to support Trump’s efforts to challenge his loss to Democratic former vice president Joe Biden in the November 2020 election.
In his resolution – introduced Tuesday morning during a meeting of the House Republican Conference — Mooney called for every legal vote to be counted in the 2020 election, for voter fraud to be investigated and punished, and discouraged Republican lawmakers from calling on Trump to concede the 2020 election until all election investigations are complete.
“I call on my fellow colleagues in the House GOP Conference to join me in sending a strong, united message of support for President Trump,” Mooney said in a statement. “No Republican Member should prematurely call on President Trump to concede before these investigations are complete.”
Mooney’s resolution before the full House on Tuesday afternoon mirrors the House Republican Conference resolution. But the conference resolution would go one step further in condemning fellow Republican House members for openly encouraging Trump to concede or who endorse Biden as the president-elect.
According to a Washington Post survey, only 27 Republican lawmakers in Congress have openly acknowledged that Biden won the 2020 presidential election. According to the Associated Press, Biden won 306 electoral votes compared to Trump’s 232 electoral votes. As of Tuesday, Biden was ahead of Trump by more than 7 million votes, with Biden receiving more than 81 million votes and Trump receiving more than 74 million votes.
Tuesday marked a milestone in the presidential electoral process known as the “safe harbor” date – the final date to make changes to the slate of electoral college selectees who will cast their state’s votes for president on Monday, Dec. 14. West Virginia will officially certify its election results later today, which saw Trump carry 68.63 percent of the state’s vote and earning West Virginia’s five electoral votes. Trump defeated Biden 545,382 to 235,984 in West Virginia.
In a statement released by the Trump campaign’s legal team Tuesday afternoon, they don’t see the safe harbor date as a hindrance to their plans to continue challenging the results of the presidential election. Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis said they would continue their challenges until Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress certifies the presidential election.
“Despite the media trying desperately to proclaim that the fight is over, we will continue to champion election integrity until every legal vote is counted fairly and accurately,” Giuliani and Ellis said.
The Trump legal team – as well as Trump supporters filing lawsuits independent of the campaign — has so far had no luck convincing state and federal courts to overturn the election results. After more than 48 lawsuits filed since Nov. 3, none have been able to show substantial evidence of voting fraud or irregularities.
According to ABC News, the Trump campaign is leaning on two lawsuits that could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court if the justices decide to hear the cases. One case appealed to the high court from Pennsylvania challenging the legality of its mail-in ballots, and a new case filed Tuesday by Texas challenging the election results in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. Texas is accusing those four states of not conducting fair elections.