Donald Trump’s slim hopes of overturning Joe Biden’s victory in last month’s presidential election were dashed further on Friday following a string of legal defeats around the country.
President-elect Biden won the election with 306 Electoral College votes – against the 270 required – to Trump’s 232.
However, the incumbent has resorted to legal means to reverse the outcome – a move which have so far gone nowhere.
On Friday, the president’s plea was struck out five times in a matter of hours in states pivotal to his quest, losing a sixth in Minnesota.
The losses included a rejection in Wisconsin from the state Supreme Court, where the majority was gobsmacked at the effort by a conservative group to invalidate the entire election without any compelling evidence of voter fraud or misconduct.
“The relief being sought by the petitioners is the most dramatic invocation of judicial power I have ever seen,” said Brian Hagedorn, a conservative elected justice, in a concurring opinion.
“Judicial acquiescence to such entreaties built on so flimsy a foundation would do indelible damage to every future election. Once the door is opened to judicial invalidation of presidential election results, it will be awfully hard to close that door again. This is a dangerous path we are being asked to tread.”
In Arizona, the county judge also tossed a suit brought by state GOP chair, Kelli Ward. “The court finds no misconduct, no fraud and no effect on the outcome of the election.” Ward has vowed to appeal that ruling.
A Nevada judge issued a point-by-point rejection of every claim lodged by the Trump team, emphasizing that the facts they presented were sparse and unpersuasive. Carson City District Judge James Russell’s opinion repeatedly emphasized their case would not have succeeded “under any standard of proof.”
“There is no credible or reliable evidence that the 2020 General Election in Nevada was affected by fraud,” Russell wrote.
Jesse Binnall, the lead lawyer in the challenge brought by would-be Trump electors in Nevada, said: “We disagree with the order. The case and evidence we presented was compelling and overwhelming. We have noted our appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.”
In one of the most prominent cases — a suit in Georgia brought by controversial lawyers Sidney Powell and Lin Wood — a federal appeals court dismissed an appeal seeking to expand a restraining order a district court judge issued Sunday barring any alterations to voting machines in three Georgia counties.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal without even hearing oral arguments from the litigants.
In Michigan, a state appeals court tossed an effort by the Trump campaign to block certification of Michigan’s results.
The judges who issued the 2-1 ruling noted that while the Trump lawyers delayed their latest round of filings for weeks, the state had gone ahead and certified the election, making the legal challenge moot.
And in Minnesota, a state Biden won easily but that had been on Trump’s radar ahead of Nov. 3, the state Supreme Court rejected Republicans’ proposal for a full statewide recount and chided them for failing to serve their complaint on the county officials they called out in their filings.
Trump’s campaign has spent nearly $9 million on its unsuccessful bid to overturn the results of the election, including nearly $2.3 million to lawyers and consultants.
The campaign and the Republican National Committee have raised at least $207.5 million since Election Day, much of it from solicitations asking for donations to an “Official Election Defense Fund”.
