A number of House Republicans held meetings with President Trump on Monday evening to discuss an effort to block congressional certification of the election results, scheduled for January 6.
Representative Mo Brooks (R., Ala.) organized the meetings, which were attended by at least a dozen House Republicans including Trump allies Andy Biggs (R., Ariz.), Jody Hice (R., Ga.), Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), and representative-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.). Vice President Mike Pence, who will preside over the certification, was also present at the meetings.
“It was a back-and-forth concerning the planning and strategy for January the sixth,” Brooks told Politico. “More and more congressmen and senators are being persuaded that the election was stolen.”
President Trump has refused to publicly concede defeat to Joe Biden in the general election, alleging that Democrats “stole” the election through widespread voter fraud. Lawyers loyal to the president have filed a number of lawsuits contesting the results in swing states, however the suits have failed to back up claims of fraud with evidence.
House Republicans may be able to force a vote on certification of the election, however the effort will almost certainly fail in the Democrat-controlled body. No Republican senators have publicly endorsed the effort, and Senator John Thune (R., S.D.) told reporters on Monday that the attempt to contest the election results is “going down like a shot dog.”
“I just don’t think it makes a lot of sense to put everybody through this when you know what the ultimate outcome is going to be,” Thune said.