Politico has a different take on the Gohmert et al lawsuit against Mike Pence. While they concede that the suit is basically a non-starter, legally, (insane) they do make an interesting point as to motive.
You see, if Trump and the GOP are forced to wait until January 6th to find out if Pence will “do what’s right” (give the president a second term), and he chooses to follow the Constitution instead, then they will have literally zero time to do anything about it. Pence will simply open the envelopes, announce the results, and pass them on for certification by the US Congress.
Besides, you know, their fruitless objections to the elector-slates, which will go nowhere.
If only they could force Pence to “show his hand” before then. Then if he indicates his loyalty to the constitution over Trump, they will have some time before January 6th to ostensibly pressure him by whatever means they possess, to change his mind.
But Mike Pence has been making himself scarce lately, including a current ski-trip, and then a planned world tour of obscurity, which starts the very day of the joint-session over which he will preside. January 6th.
Hard to get a bead on where someone's head is at, when you can’t see their head.
Dodge and weave……….
What’s a GOP to do but force a wayward VP to answer a civil suit in court?
And what’s a GOP to do, if Pence gives the wrong answer?
Threats to his future in the GOP? The release of damaging information, formerly compiled by a certain ex-KGB operative who currently heads the Federation of Russia? Actual threats toward him and his family?
We are now a little over three weeks away from Biden’s and Harris’s swearing in.
You thought things have been crazy already?
Just you wait……….
By the way, the “merits” of the case made by Gohmert, can be distilled into the following statement:
On January 6th, the Vice President of the United States, acting as President of the US Senate, should be allowed to choose the next president of the United States, regardless of, well……….anything.
In other words, the election that was held on November 3rd means absolutely nothing.
It is hereby declared moot.
Gohmert — 1, Democracy — 0
Here’re the relevant quotes from the Politico story:
Gohmert suit may force Pence's hand in effort to overturn Trump's defeat
The vice president is set to oversee certification of Biden's Electoral College win.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and President Donald Trump's defeated electors from Arizona may force Vice President Mike Pence to publicly pick a side in Trump’s bid to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Gohmert and a handful of the would-be electors sued Pence in federal court on Monday in a long-shot bid to throw out the rules that govern Congress' counting of electoral votes next week. It’s an effort they hope will permit Pence — who is tasked with leading the Jan. 6 session of the House and Senate — to simply ignore President-elect Joe Biden's electors and count Trump's losing slates instead.
[...]
Though the lawsuit itself is unlikely to gain legal traction, it does put Pence in the position of having to either contest the suit — putting him on the opposite side of Trump and his GOP defenders — or support it and lay bare the intention to subvert the will over the voters in the 2020 election.
Pence has engaged with GOP lawmakers seeking to reverse the election results but has avoided publicly taking a side in the matter, and he has given no indication how he intends to handle his role presiding over the Jan. 6 session of Congress set to certify Biden's victory.
[...]
Gohmert indicates in the suit that he will be one of the House Republicans who intend to challenge Biden's electors from key states. Dozens of other House Republicans intend to follow suit, and at least one incoming GOP senator — Tommy Tuberville of Alabama — has signaled he's likely to join them. It's unclear if other GOP senators will as well.
[...]
At least earlier this month, Pence was planning to oversee Biden’s victory and then try to escape Trump’s ire by heading abroad for what might be his final diplomatic trip in office. If Pence ultimately opts out of participating in the session, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Senate president pro tem, would likely preside.