Pennsylvania House leaders file brief supporting Texas in election-related lawsuit

Two Republican members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Texas in connection with the Lone Star State's election-related lawsuit that targets Pennsylvania and other states.

Bryan Cutler, the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and Kerry Benninghoff, the majority leader of that legislative body, filed the brief which focuses exclusively on issues pertaining to their own state, not to any of the other states targeted by Texas in the suit.

"While amici curiae take no position with regard to the remedies requested by Plaintiff as that is entirely the province of the Court's discretion, amici respectfully submit this Brief to provide this Court with greater background concerning events and circumstances that have occurred in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which require this Court's guidance and consideration," the filing states.

"The unimpeachability of our elections requires clear procedures of administration so that everyone gets a fair shake," the filing also says. "Unfortunately, outside actors have so markedly twisted and gerrymandered the Commonwealth's Election Code to the point that amici find it unrecognizable from the laws that they enacted. The Plaintiff and others have raised important questions about how this procedural malfeasance affected the 2020 General Election. Amici hope that this additional background to the events and circumstances that have occurred in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which have given rise to this lawsuit will aid the Court in resolving this matter expeditiously."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in a statement regarding the lawsuit, criticized the states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin, which are all targeted in the suit. 

"Trust in the integrity of our election processes is sacrosanct and binds our citizenry and the States in this Union together,” Paxton said. "Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin destroyed that trust and compromised the security and integrity of the 2020 election. The states violated statutes enacted by their duly elected legislatures, thereby violating the Constitution. By ignoring both state and federal law, these states have not only tainted the integrity of their own citizens' vote, but of Texas and every other state that held lawful elections. Their failure to abide by the rule of law casts a dark shadow of doubt over the outcome of the entire election. We now ask that the Supreme Court step in to correct this egregious error."

The six states of Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah have joined the Lone Star State in the high court suit, according to a Thursday press release.