Current:Home > NewsPennsylvania’s high court throws out GOP lawmakers’ subpoena in 2020 presidential election case -文件: temp/data/webname/news/nam2.txt
Pennsylvania’s high court throws out GOP lawmakers’ subpoena in 2020 presidential election case
View
Date:2025-04-13 20:35:38
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court ruled Wednesday that Republican state lawmakers can no longer try to enforce a subpoena for election records they issued in 2021 in a quest inspired by former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
The court, in a brief order, dismissed three appeals in the case, vacated a lower court order and said the subpoena became “unenforceable” when the state Legislature’s two-year session ended in 2022.
A Republican-controlled state Senate committee issued the subpoena as part of what they called a “forensic investigation” of the 2020 presidential election as Trump and his allies applied pressure in battleground states where Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden to investigate ballots, voting machines and voter rolls for evidence to support their baseless claims about election fraud.
The subpoena has been on ice for more than two years amid several court challenges. Senate Republicans did not immediately say Wednesday whether they will look to issue another subpoena.
The ruling is effectively a victory for the state attorney general’s office, Senate Democrats and several voter groups, who had gone to court to try to block the subpoena.
“It was a ton of work and a lot of commotion, and the case goes out with a whimper,” said Witold J. Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which represented the voter groups. “But fortunately, in our view, no damage was done.”
Democrats had argued that the subpoena was an abuse of legislative power, served no legitimate legislative purpose and stemmed from Trump’s efforts to undermine trust in the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Voter groups and the attorney general’s office had argued that some of the detailed election records it sought — such as the driver’s license numbers of 9 million registered voters — is barred from public disclosure by privacy laws. The state also argued that information Republicans had sought about election systems was barred from public disclosure by federal law.
The high court’s order vacates last year’s decision by the lower Commonwealth Court, which said it would leave it up to the Senate to enforce its own subpoena under the state’s contempt laws. All sides appealed aspects of the ruling, while the ACLU had viewed the lower court’s decision as dangerous because of the privacy implications for voters.
The idea of election audits or investigations was propelled by Trump’s most ardent supporters in battleground states, including Pennsylvania, where Trump lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Republicans in Pennsylvania subsequently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal bills and an election investigation contractor that has yet to issue a public report on its findings.
An Associated Press investigation into potential cases of voter fraud in Pennsylvania and the five other battleground states where Trump disputed his loss to Biden in 2020 found a minuscule number of cases.
Election officials in 11 of the state’s 67 counties identified a total of 26 possible cases of voter fraud, representing 0.03% of Biden’s margin of victory. He defeated Trump in Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes, according to the state’s certified results.
___
Follow Marc Levy: http://twitter.com/timelywriter
veryGood! (5844)
Related
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Bryan Kohberger's attorneys hint alibi defense in Idaho slayings
- ‘Our own front line’: Ukrainian surgeons see wave of wounded soldiers since counteroffensive began
- What to know about 'Napoleon,' Ridley Scott's epic starring Joaquin Phoenix as French commander
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Chris Eubanks finds newfound fame after Wimbledon run. Can he stay hot ahead of US Open?
- Most-Shopped Celeb-Recommended Items This Month: Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Aniston, Alix Earle & More
- 10,000 red drum to be stocked in Calcasieu Lake estuary as part of pilot program
- The seven biggest college football quarterback competitions include Michigan, Ohio State
- 'Shame on us': Broncos coach Sean Payton rips NFL for gambling policy after latest ban
Ranking
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Women’s World Cup rematch pits United States against ailing Dutch squad
- US heat wave eyes Northeast amid severe storms: Latest forecast
- UK billionaire Joe Lewis, owner of Tottenham soccer team, charged with insider trading in US
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Sarah Jessica Parker Shares Rare Insight Into Family Life With Her and Matthew Broderick's Kids
- Rival Koreas mark armistice anniversary in two different ways that highlight rising tensions
- Education Department investigating Harvard's legacy admission policies
Recommendation
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
Michael K. Williams’ nephew urges compassion for defendant at sentencing related to actor’s death
Rival Koreas mark armistice anniversary in two different ways that highlight rising tensions
Trump’s Former Head of the EPA Has Been a Quiet Contributor to Virginia’s Exit From RGGI
Kansas City Chiefs CEO's Daughter Ava Hunt Hospitalized After Falling Down a Mountain
Stressed? Here are ways to reduce stress and burnout for International Self-Care Day 2023
Greta Thunberg defiant after court fines her: We cannot save the world by playing by the rules
Ohio abortion rights measure to head before voters on November ballot