Federal judge cancels hearing for Trump election case at PA



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A federal judge on Wednesday called off a scheduled evidentiary hearing into President Trump’s challenge to Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania.

Instead, Judge Matthew Brann gave the Trump campaign until 5 p.m. to respond to a defense request to dismiss the case, according to an order posted online.

Brann also set the same deadline for the campaign to file new motions asking for a preliminary injunction to block certification of election results and permission to amend his complaint for a second time.

The order came a day after Brann heard about four hours of oral argument Tuesday from lawyers, including former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who took over Trump’s case after a series of other lawyers bailed out .

Giuliani, a former American attorney from Manhattan, appeared rusty during his first appearance in federal court in about three decades, at one point mistaking Brann for another judge who had previously dismissed a different lawsuit filed by the campaign, according to the Associated Press.

Brann also noted that the Trump lawsuit “alleged that the two plaintiffs were denied the right to vote” while “asking this tribunal to invalidate over 6.8 million votes, thereby depriving every voter in the Commonwealth” , CNN reported.

In addition to canceling the hearing that had been set for Thursday, Brann’s order rejected a request by Trump campaign lawyer Linda Kerns to withdraw from the case.

Kerns did not give a reason when she filed the petition on Monday, but it came hours after she claimed she received an “abusive voice mail” from a lawyer at an opposing firm.

Kerns also said she had been subjected to “continued harassment in the form of abusive emails, phone calls, physical and economic threats, and even accusations of treason – all for representing the campaign of the President of the United States in this dispute ”.

Rudy Giuliani speaks at a press conference on President Trump's legal challenges to the vote count in Pennsylvania earlier this month.
Rudy Giuliani speaks at a press conference on President Trump’s legal challenges to the vote count in Pennsylvania earlier this month.John Minchillo / AP

Kerns appeared in court with Giuliani on Tuesday and took over to answer the judge’s questions on multiple occasions, according to reports.

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