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Trump Ally in Congress Will Not Back Challenge to Electoral College Results

Is this a crack in the dam or just a little spillage?

President Trump has but a few, narrow paths left to remain in office after January 20th, and some of his staunchest allies are beginning to see the writing on the wall.

The first path will come to a head on Wednesday, as Congress seeks to give final approval to the results of the electoral college’s electors.  Several GOP Senators have already stated that they will be objecting to those results, which will likely be a largely symbolic act, given that the support for the objections is waning.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) became the first Republican senator on Sunday night who is actually a supporter of President Donald Trump’s agenda to oppose a challenge of the electoral college, issuing a statement saying he is concerned it would create dangerous precedents that Democrats would all but certainly use in the future to undermine election integrity.

Cotton’s verbiage was crystal clear.

“I share the concerns of many Arkansans about irregularities in the presidential election, especially in states that rushed through election-law changes to relax standards for voting-by-mail,” Cotton said. “I also share their disappointment with the election results. I, therefore, support a commission to study the last election and propose reforms to protect the integrity of our elections. And after Republicans win in Georgia, the Senate should also hold more hearings on these matters. All Americans deserve to have confidence in the elections that undergird our free government.”

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“Nevertheless, the Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states — not Congress. They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College — not Congress,” Cotton said. “And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts — not Congress. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the states.”

Cotton also believes that the precedent set by this maneuver could come back to haunt future Republican administrations as well.

Barring any unforeseen legal successes on the President’s behalf, January 6th represents the last ethical path for Trump to overturn the election results.

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