Last December, Texas’ attorney general announced he was suing four states in a desperate attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
Lawyers in the Florida AG’s office called it “bats--t insane” and “weird," records we obtained show.
tampabay.com/news/florida-p…
The next day, Florida’s attorney general joined 16 other Republican attorneys general signing a brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the Texas lawsuit.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, alleging that pandemic-related changes to election procedures amounted to widespread fraud.
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
The suit was thrown out by the Supreme Court within days, but not before it drew support from at least 125 Republican members of the House of Representatives, Donald Trump, and the attorneys general of 17 other states, including Florida AG Ashley Moody.
But behind the scenes, lawyers working for Florida’s solicitor general criticized the lawsuit.
On Dec. 8, Senior Deputy SG Christopher Baum wrote, “Batshit insane, which is why Kyle [Texas’ solicitor general] is not on it.”
americanoversight.org/document/flori…
Baum later wrote, “I bet this royally pisses off the Republican SGs currently arguing that the Court’s original jurisdiction is mandatory. Because this is Exhibit A for why the Court does not want to go down that road.“
Deputy AG James Percival asked, “What’s the theory for how one state has standing to allege Bush v. Gore violations against another state[?]”
“Because,” Baum replied.
Chief Deputy SG Jeffrey DeSousa asked, “have they asked Florida to join?”
Baum replied, “Someone will draft an amicus and ask us to do so,” adding that another lawyer pointed out that the Texas lawsuit could have been “Paxton’s request for a pardon.”
We obtained these records as part of our investigation into Paxton’s lawsuit and the attempt by Trump allies to overturn the election. Learn more about our ongoing investigation here:
americanoversight.org/investigation/…
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