Mich. Senate Republicans circulate ‘draft’ letter to Congress for ‘delay’ in Electoral College certification

The majority of the Michigan GOP’s Senate caucus signed onto a letter Monday asking members of Congress to either delay election certification or examine baseless allegations of election fraud, depending on which copy of the memo you saw on social media.

State Sen. John Bizon (R-Battle Creek) has since said the letter urging the delay was an “early draft” that was accidentally selected by staffers and never sent to Congress.

Congress is set to count and certify the Electoral College votes Wednesday for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The procedure is normally a ceremonial one, but dozens of Republicans are planning to object in an apparent bid to illegally overturn the election at outgoing President Trump’s urging.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1346822610957561858

The draft of the memo that asks for Congress to “temporarily delay certification in the name of national unity” is stamped with the Bizon’s office letterhead. The second version, which was apparently sent to congressional members instead, calls upon Congress “to pursue every available option and procedure to examine the credible allegations of election related concerns surrounding fraud and irregularities.”

Both versions of the letter request that Congress and federal law enforcement conduct an investigation into “credible allegations of misconduct in the 2020 election.” There are no such credible allegations of misconduct or voter fraud. After months of Trump and others in his party stoking fears about election fraud and dozens of court cases, no evidence has been presented to back up the claims.

https://s37741.p1438.sites.pressdns.com/2021/01/05/after-string-of-legal-failures-dozens-of-gop-lawmakers-to-reject-certifying-biden-as-president/

The signees on the letter include Bizon and state Sens. Tom Barrett (R-Potterville), Kim LaSata (R-Bainbridge Twp.), Roger Victory (R-Georgetown Twp.), Dale Zorn (R-Ida), Lana Theis (R-Brighton), Kevin Daley (R-Lum), Dan Lauwers (R-Brockway), Curtis VanderWall (R-Ludington), Rick Outman (R-Six Lakes) and Jim Runestad (R-White Lake).

Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan), chair of the Senate Oversight Committee that’s held multiple hearings on the GOP’s baseless election fraud allegations, was notably not on the list.

GOP caucus spokesperson Amber McCann did not respond to a request for comment.

https://s37741.p1438.sites.pressdns.com/2020/12/01/as-barr-finds-no-widespread-election-fraud-mich-gop-leaders-lift-up-conspiracy-theories-at-7-hour-hearing/

Several Senate Democrats chimed in on the effort on Twitter.

“These 11 Republicans have made a historic choice to put party over country,” tweeted state Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia). “It is disgraceful that they have turned against the free and fair election system that brought them to office in order to bow to conspiracy theorists.”