FOLLOWING re-election this week, Fil-Am Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said on Friday, November 6 that he would be taking a “personal leave” to assist President Donald Trump in challenging what Reyes called a “compromised election process.”
“Despite months of predictions about a ‘blue wave,’ @GOP kept the Senate & expanded seats in the House. Biden & his allies know @POTUS will win if only verified, #illegal votes are counted. We are making sure that happens but looks like courts may have to decide that. #RuleOfLaw,” Reyes, who captured 61% of the vote in his race, tweeted on Friday.
Despite months of predictions about a “blue wave,” @GOP kept the Senate & expanded seats in the House. Biden & his allies know @POTUS will win if only verified, #legal votes are counted. We are making sure that happens but looks like courts may have to decide that. #RuleOfLaw
— Sean Reyes (@SeanReyesUT) November 6, 2020
He added that he was “on personal leave time to help prepare and support litigation in several states dealing with the compromised election process.”
Reyes later clarified that he was not taking a leave of absence from his office, but was taking a “personal weekend to help review and advise on potential lawsuits” related to vote counting.
“I certainly do not believe all votes in the 2020 election are fraudulent — many dedicated volunteers and officials across the nation, including in Utah, worked hard to ensure a fair process,” continued Reyes.
Without providing further information, Reyes said that “some mistakes were likely made innocently” while “others appear very intentional.”
Since election night, Trump and his campaign have amped up claims of election fraud and called for ballot counting to be stopped despite there being no evidence of any wrongdoing.
As states continued ballot counts into Thursday, attorneys for the Trump campaign filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Michigan, adding to other challenges filed in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
State leaders and legal experts have said the lawsuits have no merit, with a number of politicians, including GOP leaders, criticizing Trump’s unsupported claims that Democrats were attempting to “steal” the election.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney took to Twitter on Friday and said that while Trump had the right to request recounts and call for an investigation of alleged voting fraud where evidence exists, it was “wrong to say the election was rigged, corrupt and stolen.”
“Doing so damages the cause of freedom here and around the world, weakens the institutions that lie at the foundation of the Republic, and recklessly inflames destructive and dangerous passions,” tweeted Romney.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that as of press time had Joe Biden leading, said Trump’s claims were “very disturbing.”
In an interview with “CBS This Morning,” Toomey said, “There is simply no evidence that anybody has shown me — or anyone else I’m aware of — of any kind of widespread corruption or fraud.”
Despite voting for Trump, Toomey said he would accept whoever “legitimately wins” the Electoral College.
Reyes has received criticism over his tweets announcing his decision to help Trump.
Alliance for a Better Utah said in a news released that Reyes had “left Utahns out to dry by abandoning his post to give his full attention to Donald Trump, attempting to undermine the outcome of a democratic election to advance his own partisan interests.”
“His unfounded allegations of voter fraud are irresponsible and simply not true,” continued the organization’s executive director, Chase Thomas.
Utah state Representative Suzanne Harrison, D-Draper, called Reyes’ tweet “inappropriate.”
“You should delete this and stop undermining public faith in our election process. These kinds of baseless claims are a threat to our public,” she added.
