By Chris Kahn, Soyoung Kim, Jason Lange, James Oliphant and Tim Reid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On Jan. 6, right after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, 147 Republican lawmakers voted the way then-president Donald Trump and the rioters had demanded - to overturn his election loss, after months of Trumpâs baseless claims that the election had been stolen.
A month later, the Republican party remains paralyzed by that false narrative. Fully 133 of those lawmakers, or 90%, are now declining to either endorse or repudiate Trumpâs continuing insistence that he was cheated by systemic voter fraud, according to a Reuters survey of all 147 lawmakers and a review of public statements they made to explain their votes against certifying the Electoral College results.
On January 6, right after the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol, 147 Republican lawmakers voted the way then-president Donald Trump and the rioters had demanded - to overturn his election loss, after months of Trump’s baseless claims that the election had been stolen.
A month later, the Republican party remains paralyzed by that false narrative. Fully 133 of those lawmakers, or 90%, are now declining to either endorse or repudiate Trump’s continuing insistence that he was cheated by systemic voter fraud, according to a Reuters survey of all 147 lawmakers and a review of public statements they made to explain their votes against certifying the Electoral College results.
"I could see that it was an angry crowd. The Capitol Police were there and they were saying, 'Mr. Kelly, if you can, we need to move very quickly," Kelly told Pittsburgh's Action News 4.
Congressman Michael Waltz: Supreme Court should hear Trump s case
Having gotten past his own bout with COVID-19, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz has turned his attention to the latest pandemic relief negotiations, the ongoing presidential election saga and a defense bill President Donald Trump urged him and other House Republicans to reject.
Waltz, in an interview with The News-Journal on Wednesday, said he intended to sign on to an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general and also backed by 17 other states including Florida against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The suit alleges that voting rules in those states were changed unconstitutionally, and that the votes that have been counted there should be thrown out, leaving state legislatures to determine the electors that will be voting in the Electoral College Monday.