U.S. Supreme Court rejects Texas Attorney General’s election lawsuit

WASHINGTON, DC -- In an order late Friday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton - and supported by President Donald Trump - seeking to overturn presidential election results in four key battleground states.

The high court said the state of Texas lacked standing to file the suit because it does not have a "cognizable interest" in how other states conduct their own elections.

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The court did not provide a vote count, but there were no dissents to the order made public.

Separately, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said they would have allowed the case to be filed because it was a matter of original jurisdiction (state verses state lawsuits can start at the Supreme Court), but would grant no other relief.

Paxton, a staunch Trump ally, sought to sue Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin -- which all went for Democrat Joe Biden -- and invalidate their election results.

The high court’s order was a stark repudiation of a legal claim that was widely regarded as dubious, yet embraced by the president, 19 Republican state attorneys general and 126 House Republicans.

Trump had insisted the court would find the “wisdom” and “courage” to adopt his baseless position that the election was the product of widespread fraud and should be overturned. But the nation’s highest court emphatically disagreed.

The court’s order was its second this week rebuffing Republican requests that it get involved in the 2020 election outcome. The justices turned away an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans just days ago.

The Electoral College meets this coming Monday to formally elect Biden as the next president.

(The AP, ABC News and CNN contributed to this report.)