The New York Times reported Monday that there is concern among lawyers at firms representing the Trump campaign in its various litigation efforts following the 2020 election. The campaign, and the firms representing the campaign, have garnered controversy for filing various lawsuits that judges have frequently dismissed as lacking any evidence of fraud or irregularities.
In a Michigan case, for example, the Trump campaign sought to stop the counting of all ballots, arguing that the election challengers were deprived access to video surveillance of ballot drop-boxes and that some poll workers were changing the dates of mail-in ballots to allow them to be accepted even if received after Election Day. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, concluding that election challengers were not required to have access to the surveillance videos and that there was no evidence for the claim of fraud on the part of election watchers.
In Pennsylvania the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit to enjoin Pennsylvania from certifying its election lawsuits. If successful, which analysts say is unlikely, this would prevent the seating of 20 electors in the electoral college that would vote for President-elect Biden.
Even cases that have more merit have garnered criticism for undermining the faith in the election. The law firm Jones Day represented the Trump campaign in a lawsuit in federal court to require segregating (and disqualifying) ballots postmarked on or before Election Day but received up to three days after Election Day. Several media outlets have already reported that, given that the Supreme Court already ordered these ballots to be segregated, and thus they have not been included in vote totals, and given Biden’s insurmountable lead in Pennsylvania, the inclusion of those ballots would not change the outcome of the election in Pennsylvania.
Because it is virtually impossible that the exclusion of late arriving ballots would change the outcome of the election in Pennsylvania, six lawyers at Jones Day told the Times that they were worried their firm’s participation in the litigation would only undermine the public confidence in the election. This echoes a concern raised by longtime Republican election lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg, who argued that combined with President Donald Trump’s inflammatory language, even meritorious lawsuits can undermine the credibility and public confidence of the election.
Trump still refuses to concede he lost the election, and their is growing concern that he will never concede. On Tuesday morning, he tweeted out “BALLOT COUNTING ABUSE!” Furthermore, the Trump appointee for General Services Administration, who must determine when the winner of an election is clear to trigger the process for a presidential transition, has yet to ascertain that Biden has won.