October 23, 2022

Fox News host Shannon Bream challenged Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) over his role in a plot to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.

During an interview on Fox News, Bream noted that Lee has been accused of
participating in a plot to use fake electors to change the outcome of the presidential election.

Lee was caught sending text messages to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about the fake electors plot.

"I'm trying to figure out a path," Lee wrote in one text.

Bream asked the senator to explain the text messages.

Lee argued there was "not a scintilla of truth" to the allegations despite the text messages being a matter of public record.

"I made phone calls to investigate the truthfulness of those [fake elector] rumors," Lee said. "That's all. Not advocating, just investigating the truthfulness of them. It's the only scenario in which Congress would have had a role. I concluded after my investigation that the rumors were false. And on that basis, I voted to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election."

"So when you say I'm looking for a path forward," Bream countered, "that path forward would suggest that you were at some point on board with the idea."

"No," Lee stuttered. "Look, the point here is there was the — there was only one path and that — that path was trying to get the White House and the president's team to acknowledge — that was the only path. If a state concluded that it had incorrectly certified the results of its election, and on that basis shifted out its slates of electors, that would be the only way of [overthrowing the election]."

Lee concluded: "I wanted the president's team to acknowledge that would be the only scenario where there would be a role for Congress. There wasn't. And on that basis, I voted to certify."

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon