Trump Allies Eye Long-Shot Election Reversal in Congress

Mr. Brooks has been making an attempt to drum up assist. He met final week with a few half-dozen senators, together with Mike Lee of Utah, and individually with the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

“My No. 1 goal is to fix a badly flawed American election system that too easily permits voter fraud and election theft,” Mr. Brooks mentioned. “A possible bonus from achieving that goal is that Donald Trump would win the Electoral College officially, as I believe he in fact did if you only count lawful votes by eligible American citizens and exclude all illegal votes.”

It stays unclear how broad a coalition he may construct. More than 60 p.c of House Republicans, together with the highest two social gathering leaders, joined a authorized transient supporting the unsuccessful Texas lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to overturn the election outcomes. But it’s one factor to signal a authorized transient and one other to formally contest the result on the House ground.

Some Republicans, together with Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, have additionally signaled that they may assist an objection. Mr. Brooks mentioned he had been talking with others who have been . But outstanding allies of the president who’ve thrown themselves headfirst into earlier fights, like Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio and even the House minority chief, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, have to date been publicly noncommittal.

“All eyes are on Jan. 6,” Mr. Gaetz mentioned on Fox News on Friday evening after the Supreme Court rejected Texas’ swimsuit. “I suspect there will be a little bit of debate and discourse in the Congress as we go through the process of certifying the electors. We still think there is evidence that needs to be considered.”

Mr. Paul, Republican of Kentucky, mentioned he would “wait and see how all the legal cases turn out” earlier than deciding what to do.

Mr. Johnson plans to carry a listening to this week “examining the irregularities in the 2020 election,” that includes Ken Starr, the previous impartial counsel who’s a favourite of the fitting, and no less than two attorneys who’ve argued election challenges for Mr. Trump. Whether he proceeds to problem outcomes on Jan. 6, he instructed reporters final week, “depends on what we find out.”

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.