Even before voters cast their ballots, President Donald Trump threatened to flood the state with lawyers to challenge results. And in the run-up to Election Day, it had already become one of the most litigated elections in Pennsylvania’s history. Lawsuits over the legality of mail ballot drop boxes, deadlines, and satellite elections offices flooded the courts. Trump loudly and baselessly claimed that he could only lose the state by fraud.
Their complaints culminated early Thursday when Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) and dozens of House Republicans — including eight of Pennsylvania’s nine GOP congressmen — sought to disqualify Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes.
Their efforts were voted down just after 3 a.m. Thursday, paving the way for Congress to finalize Biden’s victory.
Here are some key events that led to that moment:
Week of Nov. 4 — In the days after the election, Trump campaign lawyers file roughly a dozen lawsuits in state and federal courts across Pennsylvania challenging issues such as the level of access monitors had to the counting of votes in Philadelphia and other locations, or seeking to disqualify batches of mail ballots for procedural defects like voters failing to write their address on the outside of the envelope. Nearly all are ultimately rejected by courts.
Nov. 9 — The Trump campaign files a federal lawsuit in Williamsport, its first sweeping legal challenge seeking to block certification of Pennsylvania’s election results. The suit compiles many complaints that had already been litigated in state courts — like issues over poll monitor access to vote counting and disparities in whether counties allowed voters to correct mistakes on mail ballots. The suit is the first legal challenge to propose setting aside the results and having state legislators declare the victor instead.
Nov. 21 — U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann, a former county GOP chairman in Pennsylvania, rejects the Trump campaign’s suit after a remarkable court hearing in Williamsport, in which Trump campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani strays from the campaign’s earlier arguments over Pennsylvania’s rules for the casting and counting of votes. Instead, he alleges a cabal of Democratic officials nationwide had conspired to steal the election. In tossing the suit, Brann describes it as a “strained legal argument” with “speculative accusations … unsupported by the evidence.” The Trump campaign appeals the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Nov. 27 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upholds Brann’s rejection of the Trump campaign’s federal suit, saying the campaign did not have legal standing to challenge the administration of Pennsylvania’s election. But while it throws out the case on procedural grounds, Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, also addresses in his opinion the merits of the campaign’s claims of malfeasance and finds them lacking. “Calling an election unfair does not make it so,” he writes. “Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.” Kelly vows to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nov. 28 — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejects Kelly’s challenge to Pennsylvania’s vote-by-mail law. Though the justices split on whether the questions the congressman raised over the law’s constitutionality deserved further hearing, they all agree that nothing untoward occurred with votes cast in this election and reject his proposed remedy of disenfranchising millions of voters across the state. “It is not our role to lend legitimacy to such transparent and untimely efforts to subvert the will of Pennsylvania voters,” Justice David N. Wecht writes in an opinion.
Dec. 4 — More than 60 Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg — including Cutler and House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff — disavow Pennsylvania’s election results and in a letter call on members of Congress to object during the counting of electoral votes in Washington. The missive comes just hours after Trump allies on Twitter called them “cowards” and accused them of letting America down — and hours after Cutler and Benninghoff signed a memo saying the state legislature had no authority to interfere with the certification of the state’s vote.
Dec. 8 — The U.S. Supreme Court declines to consider Kelly’s appeal. Meanwhile, a new front in the legal battle opens. In an audacious brief riddled with factual errors, questionable legal arguments, and debunked conspiracy theories, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton urges the high court to disqualify votes from Pennsylvania and three other battleground states, claiming “significant and unconstitutional irregularities.” Trump, 17 Republican state attorneys general, and dozens of GOP lawmakers in Harrisburg and Washington sign on in support of the suit.
Jan. 6 — Congress meets to count electoral votes, with a group of Republican senators and a majority of Republican members of the House planning to object to Pennsylvania’s results. Lawmakers begin debating an objection to Arizona’s results when a mob attacking the Capitol and the democratic process breaches the building, interrupting the session. Afterward, senators drop their planned objections to other states, but Hawley says he’ll still object to Pennsylvania’s results.
Jan. 7 — In the early hours, as the session continues, Hawley and Kelly object to Pennsylvania’s electoral results. The two chambers split up for debate, with the House taking a full two hours as Republican lawmakers argue for objecting to the results — making a variety of false or misleading claims about the election — while Democrats demand the results are counted. Ultimately, both the House and Senate vote against the objection, officially accepting Pennsylvania’s 20 Electoral College votes for Biden.
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Trump and his allies tried to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results for two months. Here are the highlights - The Philadelphia Inquirer
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