Letter From Pat Toomey
January 28, 2021
Dear Joseph,
Thank you for contacting me about the certification of the Electoral College results for the 2020 presidential election and the impeachment of President Trump. I appreciate hearing from you.
The Constitution states that a United States citizen's right to vote "shall not be denied or abridged." It is important for this fundamental right to be protected to preserve our representative democracy. Elections are the mechanism by which voters choose their leaders and hold them accountable. Voting enables us to remain, as President Abraham Lincoln famously said, "a government of the people, by the people, for the people."
It is also important to protect the integrity of our election system by putting in place safeguards and enabling every eligible voter to participate. For example, I was supportive of Pennsylvania's efforts to pass a voter ID law that provided free photo identification to Pennsylvania voters. I have also been critical of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's unconstitutional decision to re-write state law and require county boards of election to count mail-in ballots, including those with illegible or no postmarks, that arrived three days after Election Day.
I stated publicly that the final outcome of this year's presidential election would be reached when the election process concluded, which would be after all legal votes have been counted, litigation was resolved, and any recounts were completed. In our own state, that became clear on November 21, 2020 when federal district court Judge Matthew Brann, a longtime conservative Republican whom I know to be a fair and unbiased jurist, dismissed the Trump campaign's lawsuit challenging the state's election results. Three Republican-appointed appellate judges upheld that dismissal. In light of these court decisions, President Trump exhausted all plausible legal options to challenge the result of the presidential race in Pennsylvania.
On January 6, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate met in joint session to certify the votes of the Electoral College. While Congress was trying to fulfill this constitutional duty, throngs of protestors broke through the line of law enforcement officers working to protect the Capitol and laid siege to the building. As a result of the ensuing violence, several people died, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who succumbed to his injuries after being struck in the head while he tried to help regain control of the Capitol. The actions of these rioters are an absolute disgrace, and the thugs that are responsible for Officer Sicknick's murder must be arrested and prosecuted. The law enforcement officers who helped secure the Capitol are patriots, and I am grateful for their service.
Despite this futile attempt to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election, Congress resumed its work to certify the votes of the Electoral College once the Capitol had been secured. Several Republican senators and multiple Republican House members objected to certifying the election results in two swing states-Arizona and Pennsylvania. These Members justified their objections by observing that there had been many allegations of fraud. But allegations of fraud by a losing campaign cannot justify overturning an election. They failed to acknowledge that these allegations had been adjudicated in courtrooms across America and were found to be unsupported by evidence. President Trump's own Attorney General, Bill Barr, stated that "we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election." Early in the morning on January 7, 2021, Congress formally certified the votes of the Electoral College in favor of President-Elect Biden, completing the final step in the election process.
On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached President Trump for his actions leading up to the siege of the Capitol. Two weeks later, the Senate voted, with my support, to proceed with an impeachment trial. I recognize that there are legal and constitutional arguments both favoring and opposing an impeachment trial of a former president. In my view, the text and the context of the Constitution, the meaning of the term "impeachment" to the founders, and the most relevant precedents indicate that it is constitutionally permissible for the Senate to consider the impeachment of President Trump. As the Senate conducts the trial, I will again fulfill my responsibility to consider arguments made by his lawyers and the House managers.
Thank you again for your correspondence. Do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Pat Toomey
U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania
