This is a scam,

Rep. Kinzinger calls efforts to overturn election 'a scam'

"It is a scam and it is going to disappoint the people that believe this election was stolen."

By DAVID COHEN

"This is a scam," said Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of continued efforts by President Donald Trump and some House Republicans to overturn the election of President-elect Joe Biden.

Kinzinger, speaking Sunday morning on CNN's "State of the Union," said: "The reality is there is no impetus to overthrow an election," and added that even if there were reasons to do so, there is not a constitutional mechanism to overturn a presidential election after states have formally certified their results.

A group of House Republicans met last week with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to discuss strategies to contest the Electoral College results when they are certified in a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6. Among those who attended the meeting were Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Hice tweeted afterward: "The courts refuse to hear the President's legal case. We're going to make sure the People can!”

Without singling them out by name, Kinzinger claimed these colleagues of his have an ulterior motive: raising money.

"It is a scam and it is going to disappoint the people that believe this election was stolen, that think this is an opportunity to change it," Kinzinger said.

Based on the states he won, Biden will have 306 electoral votes, compared with 232 for Trump.

Kinzinger told host Dana Bash: "We talk about the Constitution, and we have to follow it and I'm sorry if that doesn't mean the outcome was what you wanted."

He said he was concerned where this might all lead.

"If you convince people that, you know, Congress can change a legitimate election and everything was stolen, there is a deep state/theory driving this that Satan runs the government. You can see people driven to violence so I'm concerned about that," Kinzinger said.

Brooks, who has been vocal in claiming the election was stolen from Trump, later responded to Kinzinger's comments by tweet: "AK says many citizens will be disappointed. YEP - BECAUSE SO MANY POLITICIANS SURRENDER TO VOTER FRAUD!"