Trump PA Election Lawsuits: Here's The Latest

PENNSYLVANIA — An amended filing submitted in federal court in Pennsylvania Thursday specifies that the Trump campaign is only seeking to stop the certification of presidential election results, not any other race on the ballot in the state. It's the latest in a chaotic series of alterations and shakeups in legal representation which have defined the president's attempts to reverse his defeat to President-elect Joe Biden.

It comes following a lengthy hearing on Tuesday during which a judge received arguments from President Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, with skepticism.

Pennsylvania officials reiterated Friday that the claims in the suit are baseless.

"Trump + his enablers have no legal basis for their frivolous, bizarre lawsuits," Attorney General Josh Shapiro wrote on Twitter Friday morning. "They are wasting everyone's time. But as long as they keep it up, we'll keep beating them in court."

The altered court document also goes a step further than merely accusing Pennsylvania of breaking the law in its conduction of the election. It says that if the judge grants discovery during a potential trial, Republican lawyers will prove that a large percentage of the 1.5 million mail-in ballots were "illegally" counted.

"If so, the Court should set aside these votes and declare Trump the winner," the filing goes on to declare.

Specifically, Trump lawyers allege, ballots are illegal because poll watchers did not have close enough access to witness their counting, and also ballots in Democratic-run counties with errors were given back to voters to fix before being cast.

>>'This Is Not A Fraud Case,' Giuliani Tells PA Judge

Judge Matthew W. Brann cast doubt on Giuliani's assertion of these points during a lengthy Tuesday hearing. Brann then canceled Thursday's scheduled evidentiary hearing, saying there was no reason for it and that Giuliani and the lawyer for Pennsylvania should work out the case over dinner.

A new court date in the case has not yet been announced. The new filing does ask the court for an "expedited proceeding" to be completed before Dec. 8, known as the "safe harbor" deadline for certifying election results before U.S. Congress may intervene.

Pennsylvania's first deadline to certify election results is Monday, Nov. 23.

>>PA Supreme Court Says Philly Policy On Vote Observation Legal

Trump and his team thus far have seen few victories in their lawsuits challenging the election results in Pennsylvania and elsewhere around the country. Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the Philadelphia Board of Elections had, in fact, not violated the Election Code in keeping poll watchers distant from the ballot counting process.

The election lawsuit in federal court began as the campaign's most sweeping litigation effort in the state. Since the suit was introduced, some of the most binding legal language has been removed. Nearly the entire legal team has turned over in the course of a week, with Giuliani stepping in at the last moment before Tuesday's hearing.