Press: Does Kevin McCarthy even believe in democracy?

This is not rocket science. The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives a very straightforward definition of sedition: “incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.”

You don’t have to graduate from Harvard Law School to recognize that what we see today from President Trump’s lawyers and Republican members of Congress attempting to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election is nothing less than overt sedition against the United States government. And it’s time for it to stop.

In the courts, with zero evidence, Trump’s legal team has filed over 50 baseless claims of voter fraud in Nevada, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. With one minor exception, everyone of them was rejected outright.

Even Trump-appointed judges dismissed their cases as “frivolous.” But the Trumpers didn’t stop there. Again, with zero evidence, they went directly to the Supreme Court — twice! — and were twice denied consideration: the second time for the outlandish argument that Texas had any legal standing against the way in which Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania conducted their elections.

Now, it’s bad enough that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (himself under federal investigation for bribery and securities fraud), together with 17 Republican attorneys general from other states, filed that case with the Supreme Court. What makes matters worse, and indeed dangerous, is that Paxton and gang were joined by 126 Republican members of Congress — led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

What was McCarthy thinking? What kind of leadership is this? Surely, McCarthy knows that the Texas lawsuit was in direct violation of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, which requires that “claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a non-frivolous argument.” Why was this lawsuit filed? For the most frivolous reason of all: because they didn’t like the outcome of the election. If they didn’t win, it wasn’t legitimate.

McCarthy must also know that the Texas lawsuit was in total contradiction of federalism, long the sacred creed of the Republican Party. Under that principle, states are free to conduct their own business: manage their own public transit, operate their own sewers, levy their own taxes, and run their own elections without interference from other states. What business does Texas have challenging vote counts in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania? Zero!

And, most troubling of all, surely McCarthy must know that for any member of Congress to join in such a purely political stunt violates their oath of office “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” When it comes to the bedrock of the Constitution, the right of the American people to choose its own leaders, McCarthy now says: We will defend the Constitution as long as we like the president and vice-president you choose. Otherwise, we will cancel your vote and anoint whomever we want.

But it doesn’t stop there. Even after the Electoral College confirmed Biden’s victory Monday, some Republican members of Congress, apparently with McCarthy’s blessing, still vow to overturn the vote of the Electoral College when Congress meets to officially certify the election on Jan. 6 — which would be an act of sedition against the “lawful authority” of the American people.

Donald Trump’s futile attempts to deny the results of the Nov. 3 election are seriously undermining our democracy. As House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy could quickly put an end to it by simply stating: “We fought the good fight, but we lost. It’s over, Joe Biden won.” The question is: Does Kevin McCarthy believe in democracy, yes or no?

Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”