Alabama AG mum on whether Biden is 'duly elected' president

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, testifying against the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, declined repeatedly Thursday to express an opinion on whether President Joe Biden is serving in the office legally.

The exchange came as the Republican Marshall was questioned by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, about Marshall’s ties to a group that promoted the rally that occurred in Washington before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

“Is Joseph R. Biden of Delaware the duly elected and lawfully serving president of the United States of America?" Whitehouse asked.

“He is the president of this country,” replied Marshall, who was invited by the Judiciary Committee's Republican minority and questioned in his testimony whether Jackson stands up for crime victims.

“Is he the duly elected and lawfully serving president of the United States?” Whitehouse pressed.

“He is the president of our country,” Marshall answered.

“Are you answering that omitting the language ‘duly elected and lawfully serving’ purposefully?” Whitehouse responded.

“I am answering the question. He is president of the United States,” Marshall said.

“And you have no view as to whether he was duly elected or is lawfully serving?” the senator asked.

“I am telling you he is the president of the United States,” Marshall replied.

Afterward, Whitehouse said, “I have no further questions.”

A spokesman for the state attorney general's office didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the remarks by Marshall, who was among a group of attorneys general who joined in a 2020 legal brief challenging voting results in four battleground states lost by Trump, who...