[NFA] The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to block Pennsylvania from formalizing President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the state, dealing another blow to President Donald Trump's effort to undo his election loss, as the two lawyers leading his legal challenges to the election results test positive for COVID-19.
This report produced by Chris Dignam.
The other half of President Donald Trump's election lawsuit tag team, Jenna Ellis, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a source familiar with the situation, after Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was recently hospitalized with COVID-19.
Ellis, an attorney who has been working side-by-side with Giuliani in Trump's legal challenges to the results of the election, also reportedly attended a White House senior staff Christmas party on Friday, raising fears among some of another White House superspreader event.
Ellis and Giuliani have also barnstormed a series of legislative meetings over the past two weeks to promote unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the November election and to urge state lawmakers in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan to step in and declare Trump the winner in those states.
GIULIANI: "I don't want you to do this if you feel uncomfortable, but would you be comfortable taking your mask off so that people can hear you more clearly?" After news broke on Sunday of Giuliani's positive test, the Arizona state legislature said it would close both chambers this week out of caution "for recent cases and concerns relating to COVID-19." On Tuesday, Giuliani's son said on Twitter the 76-year-old former New York City mayor has improved significantly and continues to work.
A source said on Tuesday that Giuliani will attend a virtual hearing this week with Georgia lawmakers over Trump's floundering campaign to overturn his election loss.
TRUMP: "Uh, we won in those swing states." At a coronavirus vaccine summit in Washington, Trump repeated his false claim that he won the election and called on state officials and members of the Supreme Court to help him.
TRUMP: "Now, let's see whether or not somebody has the courage, whether it's a legislator or legislatures or whether it's a justice of the Supreme Court or a number of justices of the Supreme Court, let's see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right." But just a few hours after his appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court handed Trump yet another defeat in a one-sentence order with no noted dissents, refusing a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to block the state from formalizing President-elect Joe Biden's victory there.
Tuesday also marked "safe harbor" day, a deadline under U.S. election law for states to certify presidential election results, making Trump's dwindling hopes of overturning his loss even more improbable.
Giuliani and Ellis played down the deadline in a joint statement, signaling they would continue with legal challenges into January, saying: "The only fixed day in the U.S. Constitution is the inauguration of the President on January 20 at noon."
[NFA] President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump will campaign next week in Georgia, holding dueling events on the eve of..
