Kim Ward, the Republican majority leader of the Pennsylvania Senate, said the president had called her to declare there was fraud in the voting. But she said she had not been shown the letter to Congress, which was pulled together hastily, before its release…

“If I would say to you, ‘I don’t want to do it,’” she said about signing the letter, “I’d get my house bombed tonight.”…

For a challenge to an electoral slate to proceed requires the endorsement of one member of the House and one senator when Congress meets in joint session on Jan. 6 to accept the electoral votes. Both chambers would then meet separately to debate and vote on the objection. The Democratic-led House would almost certainly reject any challenge.

“I’d bet my last dollar that vote will fail,” said Representative Matt Cartwright, a Democratic member of the House delegation from Pennsylvania. “But what will be really interesting is to see which of the Republican members have the courage to ignore that request from Pennsylvania’s General Assembly.”