Trump declares his team has 'massive proof' of 'fraud and illegality' in Pennsylvania as he vows to appeal case rejected by a federal judge he appointed
President Donald Trump announced that his campaign is continuing to push back against the election results in Pennsylvania, claiming that his team had presented 'massive proof' of voter fraud in the case.
The president returned to Twitter to slam the result from a federal court, where on Friday a judge he appointed dismissed his campaign's bid to block Joe Biden from being certified as winner of Pennsylvania's electoral votes.
Trump claimed on Saturday that his team had made 'specific allegations' but that 'some people just don't want to see it'.
He added in a separate tweet that 'fraud and illegality are a big part of the case' but laid out no evidence to his claims.
President Trump returned to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to slam the result from a federal court, where on Friday a judge he appointed dismissed his campaign's bid to block President-elect Joe Biden from being certified as winner of Pennsylvania's electoral votes
Trump claimed that his campaign would continue to appeal the case in Pennsylvania
Trump again offered no proof of his claims that his campaign has unearthed election fraud
Trump suggested that the fraud was so widespread in Pennsylvania that it affected a much larger number of ballots than the 81,000 votes by which Biden won by but the president again offered no proof.
'Specific allegations were made, and we have massive proof, in the Pennsylvania case,' Trump said in his first tweet on Saturday afternoon.
'Some people just don't want to see it. They want nothing to do with saving our Country. Sad!!!
'The number of ballots that our Campaign is challenging in the Pennsylvania case is FAR LARGER than the 81,000 vote margin,' he added in his second tweet.
'It's not even close. Fraud and illegality ARE a big part of the case. Documents being completed. We will appeal!'
The president was referencing his campaign's request to prevent president-elect Biden from being declared the winner Pennsylvania.
On Friday, a federal appeals court had rejected the bid, stating that 'calling an election unfair does not make it so', in a direct hit to Trump's continued fraud allegations and refusal to concede.
Trump's lawyers vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court despite the judge's assessment that the 'campaign's claims have no merit.'
Judge Stephanos Bibas, who was appointed by Trump, wrote the court's opinion, calling the president's campaign's bid to stop the state from certifying its results 'breathtaking'
'Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,' Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote for the three-judge panel.
The three judges on the panel were all appointed by Republican presidents, and Bibas, a former University of Pennsylvania law professor, was appointed by Trump.
The case had also been argued last week in a lower court by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who insisted during five hours of oral arguments that the 2020 presidential election had been marred by widespread fraud in Pennsylvania.
However, Giuliani also failed to offer any tangible proof of that in court, despite Trump's Saturday afternoon tweets.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann had said the campaign's error-filled complaint, 'like Frankenstein´s Monster, has been haphazardly stitched together' and denied Giuliani the right to amend it for a second time.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called that decision justified Friday, calling any revisions 'futile'.
Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith and Judge Michael Chagares were on the panel with Bibas. Trump's sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, sat on the court for 20 years, retiring in 2019.
The case had also been argued last week in a lower court by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday, pictured. He also failed to offer any tangible proof of fraud in court
'Voters, not lawyers, choose the president. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections,' Bibas said in the opinion, calling the campaign's request to stop the state from certifying its results 'breathtaking'.
Pennsylvania certified Biden, who won the state's popular vote by more than 81,000 ballots, as its winner on Tuesday. Under Pennsylvania law, the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state gets all of the state's 20 electoral votes.
Trump won the state in the 2016 contest and was leading in the early vote totals this year. But Biden surged ahead when mail-in ballots were counted.
Yet, Trump has refused to concede to his Democratic rival and continues to claim, without evidence, widespread voter fraud.
On Friday night, he claimed that Biden's mail-in ballots appeared out of 'thin air'.
'The 1,126,940 votes were created out of thin air. I won Pennsylvania by a lot, perhaps more than anyone will ever know. The Pennsylvania votes were RIGGED. All other swing states also. The world is watching!' he wrote.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump had also taken a hit at the vote count in Wisconsin and rounded again on his former ally, Fox News, branding it 'virtually unwatchable'.
'The Wisconsin recount is not about finding mistakes in the count, it is about finding people who have voted illegally, and that case will be brought after the recount is over, on Monday or Tuesday,' he wrote.
'We have found many illegal votes. Stay tuned!'
Trump also took a hit at the vote count in Wisconsin on Saturday after an election recount in Milwaukee County, which cost the Trump campaign $3million, on Friday announced that Biden marginally increased his lead as the president's lawyers prepare new legal challenges
Trump continued his tirade with hits at former ally Fox News which he called 'unwatchable'
This comments came after an election recount in Milwaukee County, which cost the Trump campaign $3million, on Friday announced that Biden marginally increased his lead as the president's lawyers prepare new legal challenges.
Biden's lead increased by 132 votes after county election officials recounted over 450,000 votes. Biden won the state by nearly 20,600 votes, and his margin in Milwaukee and Dane counties was about 2-to-1.
Trump paid to have a recount in both those counties, which have large numbers of Democrat voters.
Trump had gained 68 votes over Biden in Dane County, but election officials there do not expect to finish until Sunday.
The Milwaukee County vote totals increased for both candidates after election officials found several hundred ballots earlier this week.
Claire Woodall-Vogg, the chief election official for the City of Milwaukee, said the ballots were not initially counted due to 'human error'.
'I promised this would be a transparent and fair process, and it was,' said Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson.
After a recount in Milwaukee County, president-elect Joe Biden's lead actually increased by 132 votes. Biden has now won the state of Wisconsin by around 20,600 votes
The recount in Dane County, also in Milwaukee, remains ongoing and should wrap up Sunday
Trump's campaign appears to be preparing a court challenge to change the election's outcome, but his window to sue is narrow. The deadline to certify the vote in Wisconsin is Tuesday.
All 50 states must certify their results before the Electoral College meets on December 14, and any challenge to the results must be resolved by December 8.
Biden won both the Electoral College and popular vote by wide margins.
Trump has said he hopes the Supreme Court will intervene in the race as it did in 2000, when its decision to stop the recount in Florida gave the election to Republican George W. Bush.
On November 5, as the vote count continued, Trump posted a tweet saying the 'U.S. Supreme Court should decide!'
Ever since, Trump and his surrogates have attacked the election as flawed and filed a flurry of lawsuits to try to block the results in six battleground states.
But they've found little sympathy from judges, nearly all of whom dismissed their complaints about the security of mail-in ballots, which millions of people used to vote from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump perhaps hopes a Supreme Court he helped steer toward a conservative 6-3 majority would be more open to his pleas, especially since the high court upheld Pennsylvania's decision to accept mail-in ballots through November 6 by only a 4-4 vote last month.
Since then, Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett has joined the court.
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