When Congressman and Senators raise objection, the process requires adjudication by Congress. The January 6 hearings are an attempt to criminalize that constitutional process.
Similarly, the hearings are an attempt to criminalize varying constitutional interpretations. We did not even criminalize secession after the Civil War. In the sense that secessionists were not prosecuted for treason.
1. This is exactly what happened on January 6, 2021.
2. Having said that, I would point out that the process for adjudicating disputes as laid out in the Electoral Count Act of 1887 may not even stand up to constitutional scrutiny anyway.
“When Congressman and Senators raise objection, the process requires adjudication by Congress”
Right, and there was adjudication by Congress. There were objections by some Republicans to ballots from certain states and, per the law, and Congressional rules, Congress voted on those disputed ballots. Congress held the ballots were valid. Just as an FYI, there were objections from some Democrats in 2016 to the electoral ballots for Trump from Ohio (and maybe other states). Congress voted to accept those ballots as valid.
The states apporve slates of electors and those electors cast ballots. Once the ballots get to Congress, Senators or House members can object to ballots and force a vote on whether or not to accept those ballots.
I don’t know how far down the rabbit hole folks want to go. If states certify electoral ballots and send them to Congress, and if Congress the certifies those ballots as valid, do we really want to give individuals the power to throw those ballots out? Do we want Heels Up Harris, as Senate President, to have the power to throw out Trump electoral ballots from the 2024 eletion just because she says they are invalid?