The 3-judge panel ruled UNANIMOUSLY against Trump’s and Giuliani’s frivolous lawsuit, which had already been denied in the US District Court and was then appealed to the 3rd Circuit Court by Giuliani. The scathing and strongly dismissive ruling was given Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointed judge:
Led by Trump Appointee, Third Circuit Unanimously Rejects Trump’s Election Gripes in Pennsylvania
Leading a unanimous three-member panel, a federal appellate judge appointed by outgoing President Donald Trump upheld a blistering lower court ruling that said the Trump campaign and Rudy Giuliani’s attempt to block certification of the election results in Pennsylvania was a meritless endeavor.
“Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy,” U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote Friday for the unanimous three-judge panel. “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.”
This suit was completely without merit, this Trump appointed judge wrote. It neither had specific allegations, nor any proof of whatever it was the plaintiffs charged.
Joining in the 21-page opinion were two of George W. Bush‘s Third Circuit appointees: Judge Michael Chagares and the Circuit’s Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith.
None of the exclusively Republican jurists found any fault in the lower court ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann, who was appointed by former president Barack Obama but nonetheless spent decades in GOP politics in the Keystone States.
All 3 judges were Republicans, one appointed by Trump, the other two by George Bush.
THIS is the suit Giuliani WANTED to lose in district court to send to the exclusively-Republican 3rd district to then parlay it into a case that can be brought before the US Supreme Court. THAT is now a distant dream. The panel of 3 Republican judges for the 3rd circuit court were as harsh on the merits of this case as was the case with Matthew Brann from the district court that preceded this appeal.
The scathing rebuke on the specific merits of this case:
“First, for the reasons already given, the Campaign is unlikely to succeed on the merits,” the ruling states. “Second, it shows no irreparable harm, offering specific challenges to many fewer ballots than the roughly 81,000-vote margin of victory. Third, the Campaign is responsible for its delay and repetitive litigation. Finally, the public interest strongly favors finality, counting every lawful voter’s vote, and not disenfranchising millions of Pennsylvania voters who voted by mail. Plus, discarding those votes could disrupt every other election on the ballot.”
Read Judge Bibas’ summary, who (I repeat myself) is a Trump-appointed judge, in which he mocks this case, metaphorically comparing it to lead they tried to turn into gold:
“Seeking to turn those state-law claims into federal ones, the campaign claims discrimination. But its alchemy cannot transmute lead into gold,” Bibas wrote. “The campaign never alleges that any ballot was fraudulent or cast by an illegal voter. It never alleges that any defendant treated the Trump campaign or its votes worse than it treated the Biden campaign or its votes. Calling something discrimination does not make it so. The second amended complaint still suffers from these core defects, so granting leave to amend would have been futile.”
LOL. The judge states that the Trump campaign was trying to transmute lead into gold. Trash into treasure, so to speak.
With THIS mocking and scathing ruling by a judge’s panel comprised exclusively of Republican-appointed judges, the lead judge Stephanos Bibas having been appointed by Donald Trump himself, they can now kiss any chance for help, if ever so remote, from the Supreme Court of the United States a final goodbye.