Trump bid to overturn election stumbles as judge tosses Pennsylvania lawsuit

Pennsylvania - The federal judge calls Trump claim challenging Biden win in Pennsylvania 'Frankenstein's monster'

President Donald Trump’s desperate bid to overturn the US election was dealt a new setback on Saturday when a federal judge threw out his campaign’s attempt to invalidate millions of votes in Pennsylvania.

US District Court Judge Matthew Brann ruled that the Trump campaign’s efforts to stop Pennsylvania officials from certifying Democrat Joe Biden as the winner in the state was “unsupported by evidence.”

The Trump campaign had sought to prevent state officials from certifying the results of the election in the state.

Brann described the case as “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations.”

Brann, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, said that he “has no authority to take away the right to vote of even a single person, let alone millions of citizens.”

Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said in a statement that he was disappointed with the ruling. “Today’s decision turns out to help us in our strategy to get expeditiously to the US Supreme Court,” he said.

The campaign will ask the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to review the ruling on an accelerated timetable, according to Giuliani. A majority of that circuit’s judges were nominated by Republican presidents. Four were nominated by Trump.

Judge calls case 'Frankenstein's monster'

The lawsuit before Brann was filed on Nov. 9 and had alleged inconsistent treatment by county election officials of mail-in ballots. Some counties notified voters that they could fix minor defects such as missing “secrecy envelopes” while others did not.

“This claim, like Frankenstein’s Monster, has been haphazardly stitched together,” wrote Brann.

For Trump to have any hope of overturning the election, he needs to reverse the outcome in Pennsylvania, which is scheduled to be certified by state officials on Monday.

The lawsuit sought to stop officials from certifying Biden’s victory in the state, arguing that some counties wrongly allowed voters to fix errors on their mail ballots.

Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said Trump had “exhausted all plausible legal options” to challenge the result in Pennsylvania. He called on Trump to concede the election and congratulated Biden on his victory.

Few other Republicans in Congress have called on Trump to concede.

Trump’s lawyers said they would appeal the ruling, with the hopes of quickly reaching the US Supreme Court.

“We are disappointed we did not at least get the opportunity to present our evidence at a hearing. Unfortunately the censorship continues,” Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis said in a statement.

For Trump to have any hope of overturning the election, he needs to reverse the outcome in Pennsylvania, which is scheduled to be certified by state officials on Monday.

Democrats said Saturday’s scathing verdict was further proof that Trump’s accusations of fraud are baseless.

“Our country will not tolerate Trump’s attempt to reverse the results of an election that he decisively lost,” Biden spokesman Michael Gwin said in a statement.

Giuliani, who made his first courtroom appearance in 30 years for a hearing in the case on Tuesday, has floated a variety of conspiracy theories as the Trump team alleged that the election was marred by widespread voter fraud.

Trump did not directly address the ruling as he re-aired familiar grievances on Twitter. “Fake ballots, dead people voting, no Republican Poll Watchers allowed, & more!” he wrote.

Election officials across the country say there was no widespread fraud, and Trump’s own administration has called the election “the most secure in American history.”

Trump’s campaign and its allies have filed dozens of lawsuits across the country challenging the results.

They have had little success so far, and time is running out to build a case as some states have started formalizing results. In Pennsylvania, counties are due to file official results on Monday to the secretary of state, who will then certify the tallies. Biden leads Trump by more than 81,000 votes in the state.

Benjamin Geffen of the Public Interest Law Center, who was involved in the case, said Saturday’s ruling showed Trump will not be able to overturn Biden’s Pennsylvania victory in court.

“As far as litigation goes I believe this is the end of the line for them,” he said.

Unprecedented Effort

Trump is seeking to invalidate or change the election results through recounts and direct pressure on lawmakers in several states. He would need to prevail in at least three states to prevent Biden from being sworn in as president on Jan. 20 -- an unprecedented action.