US election: Legal battle records losses in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Michigan

Donald Trump claimed he would be vindicated by the US court system. But he’s just had a very bad day, just as legal experts predicted.

Although Donald Trump has yet to concede his election defeat, his administration's attempt at invalidating Joe Biden’s victory has gone from bad to worse.

To date the President’s legal team has not won a single case which has baselessly alleged that voter fraud and the presence of illegal votes led to Mr Biden’s win.

Out of the near-20 lawsuits filed by his team, the majority have since been withdrawn or denounced by judges.

On Friday, the Trump campaign lost six cases in Montgomery County and Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania questioning the legitimacy of 9000 absentee ballots.

His campaign was also forced to drop a lawsuit in Arizona which called for a review of the ballots, as this would not have overturned Mr Biden’s win of over 11,000 votes.

A Michigan judge also denied a case brought on by two poll challengers to block Mr Biden’s win in Detroit. Not only did Chief Judge Timothy Kenny say that doing so would be an “unprecedented exercise of judicial activism”, he also denied a request for an audit.

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Adding further insult to injury, the high-profile law firms representing Mr Trump in the all-important states of Arizona and Pennsylvania have also withdrawn their case from the courts.

Trump’s legal battles have also been met with scepticism by the judiciary. Of the legal challenges which have been heard, many have failed due to a lack of evidence and legitimate sworn witness statements.

Presiding over a hearing on election mishaps in Arizona, Judge Daniel Kiley refused to accept witness statements which he said were even regarded as “false and spam” by Trump’s own team, reports CNN.

“Let me just clarify,” said Judge Kiley. “Your solicitation of witnesses yielded some sworn affidavits that you yourself clearly determined are false and spam, as you phrased it,” he asked the Trump lawyer in court.

“The ones that you couldn’t prove are false you submitted to the court?”

While Mr Trump’s attempts to remain in the White House have garnered a lot of attention, legal experts have stated that come January 20 Mr Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP.

Although Mr Trump defiance has dominated US politics, on the whole legal experts are confident that his attempt to remain in the White House will be unsuccessful.

Speaking to Politico, the President of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law concluded that “judges won’t decide this election”.

“None of the cases would affect enough votes to swing a key state, and Trump’s goofball legal strategy would have to flip three,” he argued.

The claims for proving potential voter fraud are also baseless, said law professor at the University of Washington, Lisa Manheim.

“It’s not clear that Trump even understands the basic logic of a lawsuit,” she wrote. “To win a case, you need a claim, evidence and a remedy. Legal claims cannot be based on freewheeling tirades. They cannot be premised on unsubstantiated accusations. And they cannot support requests for relief that extend far beyond the scope of the claim.”

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Mr Trump will remain President until January 20 before Mr Biden will be sworn in. As it stands, the former US Vice President has won the election with 290 electoral college votes to Mr Trump’s 232. Currently Georgia is the only state yet to be called due to a recount which began on Friday.

While Mr Trump is still alleging voter fraud – despite a total lack of evidence – his refusal to aid the Biden administration’s transition process is earning him a lot of criticism.

On Saturday former White House chief of staff John Kelly said Trump’s behaviour could have “catastrophic” results for the American people.

Since the election, supporters of US President-elect Joe Biden and Donald Trump have taken to the streets to voice their stance over the results. Picture: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP.

Having previously served as both the Secretary of Homeland Security and White House Chief of Staff in the Trump administration, Mr Kelly’s statement called on the government to immediately begin briefing Mr Biden’s team, calling it the “right and moral thing to do”.

“The delay in transitioning is an increasing national security and health crisis,” he said.

“It costs the current administration nothing to start to brief Mr Biden, Ms Harris, the new chief-of-staff, and ALL identified cabinet members and senior staff.”

Although he didn’t comment on whether Mr Trump should concede defeat, he was clear his current behavior “could be catastrophic to our people regardless of who they voted for.”

“The current administration does not have to concede, but it should do the right thing just in case the Constitutional system declares they lost.

“It is not about the GOP or the Democrat Party. It is not about the president or about Mr Biden. It is about America and what is best for our people.”