About
Fred Keller (R-Pa.) represented Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from June 2019 (when he won the seat in a special election) to January 3, 2023. Prior to that, he served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2011–19.
Closely aligned with Trump, Keller won election to his second term in Congress in 2020 and was a member of the far-right Republican Study Committee. Once redistricting led to splitting his heavily Republican district in half, he announced that he would not seek reelection in the 2022 midterms.
In the weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Keller adhered to the GOP playbook by casting doubt on the legitimacy of President Biden’s electoral victory.
January 6, 2021
- Just hours after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Keller joined 146 other congressional Republicans in refusing to certify Biden’s win of the 2020 presidential election. He claimed that Pennsylvania Gov. Scott Wolf (D), Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar (D), and the state Supreme Court were all guilty of “unconstitutional actions.”
- Keller voted against impeaching Trump for his role in instigating the attack on Congress and the Capitol, and for fanning the flames once the riot broke out. In a prepared statement, he wrote: “With only days remaining in President Trump’s term, [impeachment] further inflames tensions and sows even greater divisions among a nation that needs desperately to heal. Lawmakers must lead by example and find common ground on a path forward.” The justification on Keller’s congressional website also quotes the video Trump tweeted after the impeachment vote saying: “Mob violence goes against everything I believe in…. No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag. No supporter of mine could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans.”
- Keller also voted against establishing a House committee to investigate the attack on the Capitol.
The Big Lie
- On Dec. 10, 2020, Keller signed an amicus brief in a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the results of the presidential election in four swing states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
- On Jan. 5. 2021, Keller joined fellow congressmen in issuing a statement about why they would refuse to certify Pennsylvania’s electors the following day. In that statement, they cited their mistrust in three separate governmental authorities: “Unfortunately, the many unlawful actions undertaken by the Pennsylvania Governor’s office, the Secretary of State, and what has been described as a rogue Pennsylvania Supreme Court exceeded and circumvented the state legislature’s clear constitutional authority.”