Before securing the GOP nomination for House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a crucial role in the efforts of then-President and his allies to overturn ‘s victory in the 2020 election.
Johnson, currently serving as the GOP caucus vice chair and a Trump ally, led the amicus brief signed by over 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit aiming to invalidate Biden’s win in four swing states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, urged the Supreme Court to delay the electoral vote in those four states, allowing investigations into voting issues amidst Trump’s refusal to concede. It claimed that the states had changed voting rules without legislative approval prior to the 2020 election.
During that time, Johnson sought support from his GOP colleagues for the lawsuit by sending them an email with the subject line “Time-sensitive request from President Trump.”
“President Trump called me this morning to express his great appreciation for our effort to file an amicus brief in the Texas case on behalf of concerned Members of Congress,” Johnson wrote in the December 2020 email, obtained by NBC News.
“He specifically asked me to contact all Republican Members of the House and Senate today and request that all join on to our brief,” he continued. “He said he will be anxiously awaiting the final list to review.”
The lawsuit quickly drew backlash from battleground state attorneys general, who criticized it as a “publicity stunt” filled with “false and irresponsible” claims. Legal experts also highlighted several obstacles the lawsuit faced, noting that Texas lacked the authority to argue that officials in other states violated their legislatures’ rules.
Johnson’s involvement in the attempts to overturn the election results has recently gained attention with his speakership bid. The political team of former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who disagreed with Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen election, circulated a New York Times article that labeled him as “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” on January 6, 2021, aimed at keeping Trump in office despite his loss.
The Times previously reported that many Republicans who voted to dismiss pro-Biden electors relied on an argument crafted by Johnson, which focused on the claim that certain states’ voting changes during the Covid-19 pandemic were unconstitutional rather than on the false claims of widespread fraud.
The Supreme Court ultimately rejected Texas’ effort to overturn the election results.
“Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections,” the court said in a brief unsigned opinion.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.
