US President, Donald Trump, has urged vice president, Mike Pence to use his largely ceremonial role to stop Congress from affirming Joe Biden’s Electoral College win when the Senate meets on Wednesday, January 6.
The January 6 session is normally a pro forma exercise in which the vice-president, in his capacity as presiding officer of the Senate, is required to “open” certificates from the states naming presidential electors.
The electors are then counted, leading to the affirmation of a winner entitled to be inaugurated on January 20, assuming someone captures a majority.
These provisions, which are laid out in the 12th Amendment, are supplemented by the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which provides detailed guidance for contested presidential elections.
It’s the Electoral Count Act, as interpreted over the decades, that was the basis for the specific rules for this year’s process adopted via a voice vote in both congressional chambers soon after the 117th Congress was sworn in over the weekend.
The constitutionally required session is intended to “certify” the results, but that can be confusing as it can raise legal questions as to whether Congress, rather than the states, actually “certifies” electors.
So, Pence could create more drama in the ongoing electoral process if he decides to reject electors from battleground states that Biden won.
Speaking on Monday night, while campaigning in Georgia for a pair of Georgia GOP Senate candidates, Trump said that he hoped Mike Pence would “come through for us.”
“I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you,” Trump admitted.
“I hope that our great vice president — our great vice president, comes through for us. He’s a great guy. Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him as much.”
Trump, who was seen in the Oval Office with Pence shortly before departing for Georgia, didn’t say exactly what he wants Pence to do.
He then laughed and added: “Nah, Mike is a great guy he’s a wonderful man and a smart man and a man that I like a lot.”
“But he’s gonna have a lot to say about it,” the President added.
“And he you know one thing with him, you’re gonna get straight shots — he’s gonna call it straight.”
Though the rally was for Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Trump focused heavily on the 2020 presidential election but still praised both senators.
“Kelly is a staunch defender of our incredible military. I’m so proud of our military. She supports the wall, and she always stands with the heroes of law enforcement, ICE and Border Patrol,” he said.
On Monday, January 4, a recording surfaced detailing how Trump unsuccessfully pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes that would tilt the balance in Trump’s favor in a call .
Trump in the Monday night rally attacked Raffensperger and Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, saying they weren’t real Republicans and that he would campaign against their reelection.
Trump cited the crowd at the rally Monday night in Dalton as evidence that he actually won the election in November.
“The people of Georgia are angry, and these numbers are gonna be repeated on Monday night along with others that we’re gonna have by that time, which are much more substantial even, and the people of Georgia are angry,” Trump said.
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