W.Va. Attorney General Morrisey Joining Texas Lawsuit To SCOTUS Over ‘Election Irregularities’

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says his office will join an effort that urges the U.S. Supreme Court to consider “irregularities and unconstitutional actions in this year’s election.”

The lawsuit — brought by the attorney general of Texas on behalf of the state — seeks to block the final certification of results declaring Democrat Joe Biden the winner of the presidency.

The joining of the lawsuit comes as President Donald Trump and other Republicans around the nation continue to rally behind the president’s efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election — in which Biden won with 306 electoral votes — and as states certify their results.

On Tuesday, the nation’s high court shot down another lawsuit filed by U.S. Rep Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania that argued that a 2019 state law was unconstitutional and all mail-in ballots in the past election should be thrown out.

Despite the rejection — and a string of dozens of other unsuccessful court challenges across the nation that questioned the outcome of the election — Morrisey, a Republican, will move forward in joining the suit brought forth by the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The suit from Paxton targets four closely contested states — Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — claiming that pandemic-era changes to election procedures in those states violated federal law. The suit asks the U.S. Supreme Court to block the states in question from voting in the Electoral College.

With guidance from Morrisey, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner allowed for all registered voters to use the ongoing pandemic as a reason to request an absentee ballot and vote by mail in the general election. State officials have said there were no voting irregularities in West Virginia during the 2020 election cycle.

“Many Americans and West Virginians have seen their confidence in the electoral system undermined as they watch one report after another outlining the many, many problems with the 2020 elections. That must change,” Morrisey said Wednesday, the same day state elections officials certified the results of the general election.

Morrisey, who just won a third term as West Virginia’s chief legal officer, announced earlier this week he was quarantining after testing positive for the coronavirus and being diagnosed with pneumonia.

To date, there has been no proof of widespread election fraud in the 2020 election. U.S. Attorney General William Barr said last week that the Justice Department — including U.S. Attorneys and the FBI — uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the election.

Barr’s comments dispute those from Trump, who continues to claim without proof that the election was rigged in favor of President-elect Biden.

In a Wednesday virtual news briefing, Gov. Jim Justice noted that Trump handedly won the state in the election over Biden. Trump won West Virginia with a 39 point margin of victory over the Democrat.

“We absolutely, overwhelmingly, voted for President Trump and we want President Trump to be able to have his due,” Justice said.

At the time of the governor’s daily briefing, Morrisey had not yet announced he would join the lawsuit that’s been taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Justice did say he would support whatever decisions the attorney general would make.

“I don’t know the particulars. I’m not a lawyer. I’m not our attorney general,” Justice said. “At the end of the day, I’m sure our attorney general will make the right moves, and I’ll support what he comes up with and everything.”

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney — of West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District — introduced a resolution in the House that calls on GOP colleagues to support Trump challenging the election. He called for instances of fraud to be investigated and punished.