US election 2020: Donald Trump claims ‘mountain of corruption’

A defiant Donald Trump has filed more lawsuits claiming election fraud in Michigan.

Donald Trump has signalled he is determined to press ahead with his legal assault on the US election result, saying there was a “mountain” of corruption yet to be uncovered.

The president’s comments came as new lawsuits alleging election fraud were filed in Michigan, while the state of Georgia committed to a rare re-count of its result by hand.

Mr Trump also made his first public appearance since media outlets declared Mr Biden the winner, attending a sombre wreath laying ceremony in the rain at Arlington National Cemetery to mark Veterans Day.

Mr Trump did not speak at the ceremony but earlier he signalled via Twitter that he was still fighting to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, claiming there was a “mountain of corruption and dishonesty” in vote counting in Pennsylvania. “We will win,” he tweeted.

WE WILL WIN! pic.twitter.com/rkd8vK6id7

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2020

Mr Trump attacked a Republican election commissioner in Philadelphia who had claimed there was no evidence of election fraud and that the president’s claims were “deranged.”

“A guy named Al Schmidt, a Philadelphia Commissioner and so-called Republican (RINO), is being used big time by the Fake News Media to explain how honest things were with respect to the Election in Philadelphia,” Mr Trump tweeted. “He refuses to look at a mountain of corruption & dishonesty. We win!”

A guy named Al Schmidt, a Philadelphia Commissioner and so-called Republican (RINO), is being used big time by the Fake News Media to explain how honest things were with respect to the Election in Philadelphia. He refuses to look at a mountain of corruption & dishonesty. We win!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2020

Mr Trump has refused to concede the election to Mr Biden, alleging his lead was the result of fraudulent voting and vote counting across several states. But the president’s legal challenges to the result across six states have so far failed to achieve any significant victories.

The president’s legal team took federal court action on Thursday (AEDT) to block Michigan from certifying its election results. The move is the fifth lawsuit alleging fraudulent behaviour in Michigan, but none has so far succeeded. Mr Biden leads Mr Trump in that state by around 150,000 votes, meaning the president needs to uncover evidence of large scale fraud to convince a court to reverse the result.

A spokesman for the Michigan Department of State, Jake Rollow, hit out at the claims of fraud.

“It does not change the truth: Michigan’s elections were conducted fairly, securely, transparently, and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people,” he said. Mr Biden flipped the state back to the Democrats after Mr Trump won it in 2016.

Meanwhile authorities in Georgia – a traditional Republican state that switched from Mr Trump to Mr Biden – said they would hold a recount due to the close result.

In Georgia, a challenger can request a recount if the losing margin is less than 0.5 per cent of votes cast.

Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the recount would be by hand, an unusual and slow method, to make sure it was as accurate as possible.

“We’ll be counting every single piece of paper — every single ballot, every single lawfully cast, legal ballot,” said Mr Raffensperger, who has previously said there is no evidence of election fraud in the election.

“This has national significance. We get that. We understand that,” he said. “We follow the process and we understand the significance for not just Georgia but for every single American. At the end of the day, we do a hand recount and we can answer the question: What was the final margin in this race?”

However Mr Biden leads Mr Trump by 14,000 votes in the state. Most state recounts only change the outcome by several hundred votes.

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh cautioned that the recount would take time and it was only one step in the push to challenge Mr Biden’s claim of victory.

“If everyone is looking for one single action that will be the silver bullet that overturns the entire election – it’s going to be a process,” he said.

Mr Biden has claimed victory in the poll and says he is moving ahead with the transition process and that he expects to be sworn in as president on January 20.

(Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)