Giuliani formally asks federal judge to give Pennsylvania's electors to Trump

(Image credit: Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images)

published 19 November 2020

Rudy Giuliani, representing President Trump's campaign, asked a federal judge Wednesday to declare Trump the winner in Pennsylvania, a state President-elect Joe Biden won by about 82,000 votes. Giuliani amended the campaign's court filing for a second time, seeking to put back in complaints Trump's previous legal team had removed Sunday about how close Trump's observers had been allowed during ballot counting. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had unanimously rejected that claim Tuesday, a decision the Trump new campaign's filing stridently criticized.

Trump's campaign, Giuliani wrote, wants U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann to order that "the results of the 2020 presidential general election are defective and providing for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to choose Pennsylvania's electors," with the ultimate goal of "Trump being declared the winner of the legal votes cast in Pennsylvania in the 2020 general election, and, thus, the recipient of Pennsylvania's electors."

Biden won 306 electoral votes, meaning that if Pennsylvania's 20 electors were somehow moved into Trump's column, he would still have more than the 270 he needs to become president. Trump's campaign continues to pursue losing lawsuits in several states, but since it hasn't been able to prove fraud and can't disqualify enough ballots to reverse any states, Trump and Giuliani are "pivoting instead to a goal that appears equally unattainable: delaying a final count long enough to cast doubt on Biden's decisive victory," The Washington Post reports.

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Stalling certification long enough so GOP lawmakers can pick electors "appears impossible," since "it is against the law in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin law gives no role to the legislature in choosing presidential electors, and there is little public will in other states to pursue such a path," the Post reports. "Behind the thin legal gambit is what several Trump advisers say is his real goal: sowing doubt in Biden's victory with the president's most ardent supporters," raising money for his new PAC, and "keeping alive his prospects for another presidential run in 2024."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.