2 House Republicans Joined Lawsuit To Overturn Election, But Now Want Out

By Allison Donahue, Michigan Advance

State Reps. Matt Maddock (R-Milford Twp.) and Daire Rendon (R-Lake City) joined a lawsuit Tuesday that is aimed at requiring the state Legislature to certify election results.

However, just hours later, the Republican representatives said they want to be removed from the suit.

The lawsuit states that “voters in Presidential elections have a constitutional right to have their respective state legislatures meet after the election and certify their votes and, based on the votes, certify the Presidential electors whose votes are counted in Congress to elect the President and Vice President.”

However, under Michigan state law, presidential elections are certified by the Board of State Canvassers and then 16 state presidential electors vote for the candidate who received the most votes.

Democrat President-elect Joe Biden beat President Donald Trump in Michigan by 154,000 votes. The Board of State Canvassers certified the state’s results on Nov. 23 and the electors met and voted on Dec. 14.

It’s official in Michigan: Electoral College affirms Biden and Harris

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, targets governors and legislative leaders in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona, all battleground states won by Biden.

In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) are all listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

The goal of this lawsuit is “to restore the constitutional authority and duty of the legislative bodies of their respective states in the selection of presidential electors to correct ‘the tumult and disorder’ and lawlessness.”

The only two Michiganders on the long list of plaintiffs were Maddock and Rendon, who now are trying to be removed from the lawsuit, according to reporting from the Detroit News.

Maddock told Detroit News that “what was eventually filed is very different than what was initially discussed.” It’s unclear what Maddock believed would be included in the lawsuit, and neither he nor Rendon responded to a request for comment.

Shirkey Spokesperson Amber McCann did not comment on the lawsuit, but noted that Michigan’s electors have “fulfilled their responsibility to cast their vote for President-elect Biden.”

On the day the electors cast their votes in Michigan, Chatfield said he fears “we’d lose our country forever” if the House were to cast a new slate of electors.

“This truly would bring mutually assured destruction for every future election in regards to the Electoral College,” Chatfield added.

Chatfield Spokesperson Gideon D’Assandro said Wednesday that the speaker’s “position has not changed on the electors.”

This is only the latest in a long list of baseless lawsuits filed both in federal and state courts to overturn the Nov. 3 general election results in Michigan.

Michigan Supreme Court denies Trump campaign lawsuit

One of the claims in the most recent lawsuit is that when the electors were casting their votes for Biden on Dec. 14, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer “mobilized the state police to secure the state capitol to prevent Republican legislators entry to the building while allowing Democrat legislators to enter.”

Due to a “credible threat of violence” the Capitol building, House offices and Senate offices were closed to the public on Dec. 14.

That day, some Republicans, including Maddock and Rendon, illegally staged an attempt to submit to police at the Capitol a fake slate of GOP electors.

Rendon and Maddock also both signed on to the longshot Texas lawsuit that sought to toss election results in Michigan and three other states, which the U.S. Supreme Court rejected earlier this month.

This story was originally published by the Michigan Advance. For more stories from the Michigan Advance, visit MichiganAdvance.com.