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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After a severe judicial setback in Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump faces increased pressure from fellow Republicans to abandon his effort to overturn the US presidential election and yield to Democrat Joe Biden.
Since Biden was declared the winner two weeks ago, Trump has launched a series of lawsuits and mounted a lobbying campaign to prevent states from certifying their vote totals.
So far, attempts to thwart certification have failed in Georgia, Michigan and Arizona courts.
On Saturday, Matthew Brann, a Republican federal judge nominated by former President Barack Obama, dismissed a similar effort in Pennsylvania, writing that the case amounted to “tense legal arguments without merit and speculative indictments.”
For Trump to have any hope of staying in the White House, he needs to eliminate Biden’s 81,000-vote lead in Pennsylvania. The state should begin certifying its results on Monday.
Trump’s attorneys promised a speedy appeal, but attorneys who opposed him in court say he doesn’t have time.
“This should put the nail in the coffin of any further attempts by President Trump to use the federal courts to rewrite the outcome of the 2020 election,” said Kristen Clarke, chair of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.
Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress are now breaking ranks.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said the ruling closed off any chance of a legal victory in Pennsylvania and asked Trump to grant the election.
Liz Cheney, a member of the Republican leadership team in the House of Representatives, previously asked Trump to respect “the sanctity of our electoral process” if he is unsuccessful in court.
TRUMP REFUSES TO GRANT
Biden got 6 million more votes than Trump in the Nov.3 election, and he also prevailed 306-232 in the state-by-state Electoral College system that determines who will take the oath of office on Jan.20.
He has spent the last few weeks preparing to take office, although the Trump administration has refused to provide funding and security clearances to do so.
Critics say Trump’s refusal to budge has serious implications for national security and the fight against the coronavirus, which has killed nearly 255,000 Americans.
To stay in office, Trump would somehow have to overturn election results in at least three large states, a feat unprecedented in American history.
A tally in Georgia only confirmed Biden’s victory there, and officials certified the result on Friday. The Trump campaign said Saturday night that it would request another recount.
In Wisconsin, election officials have criticized Trump volunteers for delaying a partial recount that is not expected to nullify Biden’s victory.
With tallies and demands falling short, Trump is now pressuring Republican-led state legislatures to discard the vote totals and declare him the winner.
“May the Courts and / or Legislatures have … the COURAGE to do whatever it takes to maintain the integrity of our Elections and of the United States of America itself,” he wrote on Twitter after the Pennsylvania ruling.
On Friday, he summoned two top Republicans from the Michigan legislature to the White House. After the meeting, they said they did not see any evidence leading them to intervene. Biden leads Trump in Michigan by 154,000 votes.
Election officials across the country say there is no evidence of significant election fraud, and the Trump administration itself has called the election “the safest in American history.”
But Trump’s allegations have continued to ignite his hard-core Republican base. Half of Republicans believe the election was stolen from Trump, according to a Reuters / Ipsos poll, and supporters have organized demonstrations across the country to protest the result.
(Report by Andy Sullivan; edited by Lincoln Feast.)
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