Chairman of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson, speaks during a hearing at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Chairman of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee Sen. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson, speaks during a hearing at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021.
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
(Harrisburg) — A Pennsylvania court will hear arguments Wednesday over Democrats’ efforts to block a Republican-approved subpoena to state election officials in what Republicans call a “forensic investigation” of last year’s presidential election, propelled by former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that he was cheated out of victory.
The statewide Commonwealth Court has set aside 75 minutes for arguments in the case. The case will involve thorny questions about the separation of powers and voter privacy, constitutional law scholars say.
Challengers, including Senate Democrats and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat, have sought to block the subpoena issued by a Republican-controlled state Senate committee.
It is an abuse of legislative power, serves no legitimate legislative purpose and stems from Trump’s efforts to undermine trust in the results of the 2020 presidential election, they say.
Issued to state election officials in September, the subpoena seeks detailed election records, some of it already public, some private information about voters and some information that is barred from public disclosure by federal law, Shapiro’s office wrote.
Trump and his allies have applied ongoing pressure in those battleground states where he lost to Democrat Joe Biden — including Pennsylvania — to investigate ballots, voting machines and voter rolls for evidence to support their baseless claims about election fraud.
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