To the Journal editor:

In his recent Mining Journal Letter to the Editor, Roger Hess asked U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman several questions concerning his thoughts on the recent election. While the questions were likely asked tongue-in-cheek, I think he received an answer!

On Thursday, Rep. Bergman published a statement explaining why he signed onto the amicus brief in support of the State of Texas v. CommonWealth of Pennsylvania, et al.

This lawsuit bypasses lower courts and was filed directly with the Supreme Court. It seeks to throw out election results in four (and only four) states and asks the court to allow their state legislators to pick their electors instead. Those four states just happen to be battleground states won by Joe Biden — Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan — and states that also happen to have Republican-majority legislatures.

The crux of the Texas pleading is that state election officials changed absentee and mail-in voting which subsequently provided an opportunity for massive fraud to occur. No evidence of significant fraud has been shown to exist, but this lawsuit relies on the possibility that massive fraud may have occurred and that the changes in the voting rules made detection impossible.

There are more odd twists in the story, but the bottom line is that there is broad agreement among legal experts that this lawsuit has no chance of success and only serves to sow distrust in the election.

What disturbs me most about this, however, is that Jack Bergman, the person elected to represent the people of the Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan, has just voiced support for a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the Presidential votes of all his constituents and citizens of the state he represents. That should include his vote too (I’m assuming he didn’t vote as a Louisiana resident).

In his statement, he said he decided to sign the Brief because he feels “trust in the very foundation of our Republic is at stake.” He goes on to say “Americans are losing faith in our systems, specifically our elections, at an alarming rate.” Why do think that is, Mr. Bergman? Could it be because elected officials like yourself persist in assaulting democratic norms and objective reality?

Jack Bergman may be correct that citizens are losing faith in our democracy, but it’s clear to me that he and his colleagues bear major responsibility for that. The hypocrisy is breath-taking.

Editor’s note: The Bergman statement noted in the above letter can be read in its entirety below.

Statement from U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman on amicus brief signing

“This week, I signed onto the Amicus Brief in support of State of Texas v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al. I didn’t come to this decision lightly or flippantly, and I didn’t make this decision based on emotion or even frustration with the election outcome. I came to this decision because trust in the very foundation of our Republic is at stake.

“Americans are losing faith in our systems, specifically our elections, at an alarming rate. I’ve heard from numerous constituents over the past four years, on all sides of the political spectrum, concerned about these very things – interference in elections by foreign entities, voting irregularities, failure by election officials to follow current laws in place, and lack of security in absentee voting.

“In this Amicus Brief, we outline multiple occasions where the state of Michigan — specifically the Secretary of State — subverted Michigan election law and constitutional precedent which in turn created a crisis of confidence in Michigan. Every American needs to know that every legal vote is counted — and only legal votes. This can only be achieved if those administering our elections are held to the highest standard. As with many elections in the past, our case deserves to be heard by the Supreme Court, and Michiganders deserve to know their concerns are being addressed.”