Former GOP House Speaker Ryan opposes congressional Republicans' bid to contest election results

Former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan is opposing congressional Republicans’ efforts to contest the electoral votes that show Democrat Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. 

"Efforts to reject the votes of the Electoral College and sow doubt about Joe Biden’s victory strike at the foundation of our republic,” Ryan, now a Fox Corp. board member, also said in a statement Sunday. "It is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans."

The statement comes before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday in which members will confirm the Electoral College results. However, over 100 GOP House members and at least 11 Republican senators plan to contest the results, arguing they were tainted by voting irregularities and actions by state election officials. Vice President Mike Pence will preside over the proceedings.

The efforts follow numerous attempts to contest the results in court, including the Supreme Court. 

Also on Sunday, Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, a usual congressional ally for President Trump, said he will not join his fellow Republican senators in their opposition.

"The Trump campaign had ample opportunity to challenge election results, and those efforts failed from lack of evidence," Ryan continues in the statement. "The legal process was exhausted, and the results were decisively confirmed. The Department of Justice, too, found no basis for overturning the result. If states wish to reform their processes for future elections, that is their prerogative. But Joe Biden’s victory is entirely legitimate."