SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes expressed his disappointment after the Supreme Court declined on Friday to hear the case that sought to overturn Donald Trump's loss to Joe Biden in the presidential election, just two days after Reyes announced Utah had signed onto the petition in an amicus brief.

Reyes had released a statement Wednesday after signing the Texas v. Pennsylvania petition, saying that he did so "because all Americans need clarity and confidence in our national elections."

The Supreme Court rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit, saying in its unsigned ruling that Texas doesn't have a judicial interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections. The lawsuit sought to invalidate the votes in four battleground states — Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin — due to irregularities in the process due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Supreme Court ends Texas lawsuit seeking to undo Trump election loss

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a long-shot lawsuit filed by Texas and backed by President Donald Trump seeking to throw out voting results in four states, dealing him a crushing setback in his quest to undo his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden.

"While I am disappointed that the Supreme Court declined to hear the Texas v. Pennsylvania case, I respect its decision," Reyes said in a statement. "As I said when we joined Texas, this case was not about a single candidate or election. This case was always about who has authority over the election process, how that exercise of authority impacted the current election and how it will affect future elections."

Reyes's decision to sign onto the petition drew criticism from both Gov. Gary Herbert and Gov.-elect Spencer Cox who issued a joint statement on Wednesday.

"The Attorney General did not consult us before signing on to this brief, so we don't know what his motivation is," their statement said. "Just as we would not want other states challenging Utah's election results, we do not think we should intervene in other states' elections. Candidates who wish to challenge election results have access to the courts without our involvement. This is an unwise use of taxpayers' money."

Gov. Herbert continued his criticism during the state's weekly COVID-19 briefing on Thursday.

"I think this might be — in fact, it is a waste of our taxpayers' dollars to engage in this that's going to happen anyway without our involvement," Herbert said.

Reyes' statement Friday clashed with the governor's, declaring that his "office participated in this case with transparency, communicating directly with the governor's staff prior to joining. Because Texas and Missouri drafted brief language, Utah was not required to spend any time writing. My Solicitor General and I reviewed the briefs before filing. Any notion that we expended a large amount of taxpayer dollars is inaccurate and highly misleading.

"We exercised the independent authority of my office to seek clarity and finality to critical constitutional questions. Utah and America deserved answers that would give more confidence in the process."

One petition on Change.org calling for an "investigation of Sean Reyes and his impeachment" had garnered nearly 16,000 signatures as of Friday night, pointing out that "Reyes has twice been elected using these 'supposedly' fraudulent mail-in elections" but "during his tenure as attorney general, his office has not once charged a single voter with fraud."

The petition cited statements from Herbert, Cox, the Utah House Democratic Caucus, Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, the United Utah Party, Chase Thomas, executive director of Alliance for a Better Utah and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford criticizing Reyes' involvement in the lawsuit.

Another petition calling for Reyes' impeachment had accrued nearly 3,400 signatures as of Friday night, saying that "By joining this latest meritless case, Reyes shows severe lack of judgment and an inability to be a trustworthy AG in Utah."

A third petition offered support for Reyes' position, with nearly 250 signers saying "The goal of the lawsuit and his joining is to uphold the Constitutional rights to question election results and have those results verified. Let's join together and support AG Reyes in protecting our US Constitution!!"

An open letter to Reyes, signed by nearly 300 "concerned citizens" and organizations criticizing his involvement in the lawsuit, was posted on Medium.

The letter read in part: "Supporting a frivolous and undemocratic lawsuit intended to discredit our nation's free and fair elections and disenfranchise millions of American voters in no way upholds our constitutions or protects the interests of the State of Utah and its people." It continued, "In fact, attacking the integrity and legitimacy of one of our fundamental democratic processes does just the opposite. This is a blatant misuse of the power of your office. It also takes your attention away from important matters in our own state and distracts you from doing your job here."

The letter called for Reyes to publicly apologize, stop casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election, and work to restore Utahn's trust, or otherwise to step down. It noted that the attorney general's office was "not a vehicle for one's own personal ambitions."

The Electoral College is scheduled to meet on Monday to formally elect Joe Biden as president.

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