Trump campaign files narrow appeal in Pennsylvania

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

President Donald Trump’s campaign filed a narrow appeal Sunday in its longshot bid to have Trump declared the victor in the presidential race in Pennsylvania despite lagging more than 81,000 votes behind President-elect Joe Biden.

With Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar set to certify the results of the election as soon as Monday, the Trump campaign filed an emergency motion with the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals asking that court to compel a lower court to accept a redrafted complaint contending that election officials excluded observers as part of an effort to process thousands of flawed mail-in ballots that largely favored Biden.

The campaign did not seek an immediate order from the 3rd Circuit to block certification of Biden as the winner. Instead, the motion filed with the court Sunday evening said the campaign might seek decertification of the results “if already certified.”

While the Trump campaign was expected to mount a broad assault on the scathing ruling U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Brann issued Saturday dismissing the suit as collection of “strained arguments ... and speculative accusations,” the new filing with the appeals court said Trump’s team was seeking to appeal only what it called the “narrow issue” of whether it should have had a second chance to reframe its suit.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/22/trump-campaign-files-narrow-appeal-in-pennsylvania-439500

[Walleye]

1. It's not a "Long shot bid" Dammit it has no chance

Calling it a longshot just encourages him.

[NCDem47]

4. I'm sick and tired of headlines TODAY, two weeks later saying:

"Trump's path to victory narrows."

HE LOST!!!!

As if some miracle will just show up.

[Walleye]

7. The TV news media. They just can't quit him

[obamanut2012]

8. THree weeks tomorrow n/t

[getagrip_already]

13. the court agreed to hear the appeal on an expedited timetable....

They could have merely declined to hear it. By definition, this is still alive.

[Yonnie3]

2. Rudy, "We want a do-over!"

Is it time for the judge to just say "neener, neener, neener, NO"?

[Botany]

3. Is this going back to Judge Brann's court? If so it will be D.O.A..

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214600634

Introduction

In this action, the Trump Campaign and the Individual Plaintiffs (collectively, the “Plaintiffs”) seek to discard millions of votes legally cast by Pennsylvanians from all corners – from Greene County to Pike County, and everywhere in between. In other words, Plaintiffs ask this Court to disenfranchise almost seven million voters. This Court has been unable to find any case in which a plaintiff has sought such a drastic remedy in the contest of an election, in terms of the sheer volume of votes asked to be invalidated. One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption, such that this Court would have no option but to regrettably grant the proposed injunctive relief despite the impact it would have on such a large group of citizens.

That has not happened. Instead, this Court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpled in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence. In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state. Our people, laws, and institutions demand more. At bottom, Plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Therefore, I grant Defendants’ motions and dismiss Plaintiffs’ action with prejudice.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. So... if we can get something going at a higher court, we want to revisit this, is that ok?

No!

[marble falls]

6. They've only got 7 more days to shillyshally in the courts. And less than sixty til eviction ...

... they better start packing and hiring criminal defense attorneys.

[beachbumbob]

9. laughable as having "campaign observers: is not part of counting the ballots

the state GOP had THEIR people involved in signature verification just like the state Democrats. THERE IS NO right of the campaign to have THEIR people involved at all. Be thrown out

[TommyCelt]

10. I am FAR more concerned

... with the pressure this trump is putting on GOP electors than the lawsuits. I won't breathe easy until January 21st when President Joe Biden is in the Oval Office attending to the business of the country.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. The "electors" in PA are the ones selected by the Governor

who were selected by the popular vote in PA. There are no "GOP electors" in this case here.

How are electors chosen in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania law says each presidential candidate picks their electors within 30 days of their party’s national convention and submits those names to the secretary of the commonwealth, Kathy Boockvar.

On Election Day, voters cast their votes for the electors to represent their candidate of choice — that’s why, when you cast your ballot, you selected “electors for” either Biden, Trump, or Libertarian Jo Jorgensen — and the electors are appointed based on whichever candidate got the most votes. In Pennsylvania, unofficial results show the 20 electors will go to Biden.

https://whyy.org/articles/meet-pennsylvanias-electoral-college-voters-everything-they-can-and-cant-do/

Nearly all Pa. counties expect to sign off on election results by Monday despite Trump’s attempts to delay certification

By Marie Albiges and Tom Lisi
Spotlight PA |
Nov 22, 2020 at 3:44 PM


(snip)

By law, county boards of elections must receive precinct results and certify them to the secretary of the commonwealth, Kathy Boockvar, by the third Monday after the election. Those boards of elections are generally made up of three county commissioners, and they have to include someone from both the majority and minority parties (counties with home rule charters may have a slightly different setup). Members sign a piece of paper certifying the results during a public meeting. Many boards, including those in Bucks, Lehigh, and Lackawanna counties, plan to meet Monday to certify.

(snip)

Once Boockvar receives the certified results from boards of elections, she certifies them herself and passes them along to Gov. Tom Wolf. The commonwealth secretary and the governor don’t have a hard legal deadline for certification under state law, but there are some real-world deadlines, Schneider said. For one, the Pennsylvania Constitution calls for the new General Assembly to be seated Dec. 1.

After state certification, the rules guiding the presidential race fall under the U.S. Constitution. President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania means the governor must certify the 20 electors he nominated for the Electoral College, so they can cast their official votes for president Dec. 14.

But federal law stipulates that if a state certifies its presidential electors at least six days before that Dec. 14 vote, those electors are essentially locked in and can’t be challenged by anyone, said Adav Noti, senior director at Campaign Legal Center. That rule is often called the “safe harbor” deadline — Dec. 8 this year. For the presidential election results, Wolf prepares a certificate of ascertainment for the National Archives and Records Administration with the names of the appointed electors and the number of votes cast for each.


https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-elections-certifies-by-county-20201121-di7l2rtkzvb3robss4lnhlmeqy-story.html

How Pa. chooses Electoral College voters and who are the 20 pledged to pick Joe Biden?
J.D. Prose, USA TODAY Network - PA State Capitol Bureau
Published 3:44 p.m. ET Nov. 11, 2020 | Updated 3:48 p.m. ET Nov. 11, 2020

(snip)

The 20 Pennsylvania Democrats picked to be Electoral College electors

Nina Ahmad, Philadelphia County

Former deputy mayor for public engagement in Philadelphia

Val Arkoosh, Montgomery County

Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners

Cindy Bass, Philadelphia County

Member of the Philadelphia City Council

Rick Bloomingdale, Dauphin County

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO president

Ryan Boyer, Delaware County

Business Manager of Laborer’s International Union of North America Business Council

Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, Lackawanna County

Mayor of Scranton

Daisy Cruz, Philadelphia County

Mid-Atlantic director for 32BJ SEIU

Kathy Dahlkemper, Erie County

Erie County executive

Janet Diaz, Lancaster county

Lancaster City Council member

Virginia McGregor, Lackawanna County

Deputy National Finance Chair for the Democratic National Committee

Charles Hadley, Philadelphia County

Board member at Moberg Medical

Jordan Harris, Philadelphia County

Pa. House Democratic whip

Malcolm Kenyatta, Philadelphia County

State House member

Gerald Lawrence, Delaware County

Delaware County board of elections

Clifford Levine, Allegheny County

Attorney at Dentons Cohen & Grigsby

Nancy Mills, Allegheny County

Democratic National Committee member

Marian Moskowitz, Chester County

Chester County Commissioner

Josh Shapiro, Montgomery County

Pennsylvania Attorney General

Sharif Street, Philadelphia County

State senator

Connie Williams, Delaware County

Former state senator

https://www.timesonline.com/story/news/2020/11/11/electoral-college-electors-pennsyslvania-election-popular-vote-results-joe-biden/6253260002/

[Tommymac]

18. PA Rethugs will NOT take action to overturn the Election. Take that to the bank.

They think they still have a political future in the state.

Expect a lot of noise but no action.

The state is still in play for the Rethugs in 2022 and beyond - they will NOT give up the power they have to support this lunatic no matter what they say in public.

[DENVERPOPS]

22. Amen to that TC

I wish I had a dollar for every time in the past four years I have said: "Trump can't do that", or RepliCONs can't do that", only to be proven wrong, despite the law.

This is, by far, the most thoroughly corrupt President and political party in the history of our nation, with absolutely NO respect for the Rule of Law, or the Constitution......

[BumRushDaShow]

11. SCOTUSblog weighed in on this

Link to tweet

TEXT

SCOTUSblog
@SCOTUSblog
There is no chance SCOTUS will review the suit dismissed by Judge Brann seeking to block Pennsylvania’s certification. The lawyers representing the President are either delusional or intentionally misleading him and his supporters.
11:41 AM · Nov 22, 2020

[gab13by13]

14. Anyone remember back in BT (Before Trump)

when Republicans were hell bent against "frivolous law suits?"

[gab13by13]

15. Not only should these lawyers(Giuliani)

lose their licenses, there should be fines involved for filing frivolous law suits. C'mon Dems get busy.

[DENVERPOPS]

23. How about the BAR association

yanking their licenses to practice law. Which they more than obviously have no respect for........

[bucolic_frolic]

16. Prepare for 4 years of whining

about each and every state, and how unfair it all was, and how GA Senate races were unfair, and how the media, the Congress, the voters ... so unfair.

Total paranoia and whining 24.7 on Trump TV.

[bucolic_frolic]

17. or, are they angling for gop Class Action in all the battleground states

Lump all the suits together, get a friendly Trump judge to accept the suit, file for immediate SCOTUS ruling.

Don't ask me, I'm not a legal mind. I only know a little business law, and not very well.

[COL Mustard]

19. You'll Only Hear It

If you watch. I won't...not for one second.

[JohnnyRingo]

20. "Decertify" after certification.

This is literally a request for a do-over, and believe me, that's where this is heading.
"I don't like the results so I want to try again until I win" would be just as apt request.

Even if he can snag Pennsylvania's vote, it still isn't enough. He has to repeat this "strategy" in two other states.

[Retrograde]

21. I'm having trouble keeping these lawsuits straight

Is this the Rudy one that got thrown out with prejudice last week? Or is it a different one?

And who is paying for all these lawsuits? If it's the Trump campaign I hope the legal teams asked for cash up front.