US election: Trump camp promises legal struggle has just begun

The spokesperson for US President Donald Trump has promised that the legal battle to challenge Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the White House is only just beginning.

“This election is not over,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at a press conference. “Far from there.”

She made a flurry of electoral corruption allegations, although no evidence of systemic fraud that could have influenced the outcome has emerged.

Mr. Trump, a Republican, did not concede the race.

Since media broadcast on Saturday that Mr Biden had won the critical state of Pennsylvania, amassing enough votes to claim the White House, the president-elect has continued his plans to take the reins of power.

Mr Trump took to Twitter again on Monday to challenge the result, making unsubstantiated allegations of “unthinkable and illegal” activity during the vote.

The General Service Administration, which manages federal agencies, has delayed authorizing Biden aides to officially begin the transition, saying no “verification” of the election winner has yet been made.

CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, said the Biden team is considering their legal options if the Trump administration continues to block the transfer.

White House reporters have said that despite his objections, Mr Trump is expected to reluctantly step down in January and is already talking about running for the White House again in 2024.

At Monday’s press conference, the president’s spokeswoman and a Republican bigwig cited allegations of electoral corruption, while urging reporters to help investigate the unverified allegations.

Fox News, formerly the president’s favorite news channel, backed away from the event, citing lack of evidence.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said presenter Neil Cavuto. “Unless she [Ms McEnany] has more details to back this up, I can’t in a good mood continue to show you that. “

Ms McEnany told reporters: “We have only just started the process of getting an accurate and honest vote count.”

She claimed that Republican poll observers did not have adequate access to the vote count in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Republican and Democratic election observers were kept 13 to 100 feet (4 to 30 meters) from tables where votes were counted in the city, and local election officials cited the need for prevention coronaviruses for distancing.

Ms McEnany also claimed that election officials in that key state allowed a disproportionate number of Democrats to correct or “cure” poorly completed ballots.

According to the Inquirer, some counties in Pennsylvania allowed voters to correct such errors, while others did not.

Republican National Committee (RNC) chairperson Ronna McDaniel said she took 131 affidavits or signed legal affidavits in Michigan as part of their investigation into alleged election irregularities.

“If the shoe was on the other foot,” she said, “if it was that close to the other side, if President Trump was leading in all of these states, and the media would scream: ” It is not finished ” . “

The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania federal court on Monday, asking for an emergency injunction to prevent state officials from certifying Mr. Biden’s victory in the state. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro called the lawsuit “without merit.”

Prosecutors in Republican-controlled states weighed in on the president’s challenge to the election results.

All 10 state attorneys general have filed a so-called amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court supporting the Trump campaign case in Pennsylvania.

The US Department of Justice has authorized federal prosecutors to investigate any alleged voting irregularities in the presidential election.

In a note cited by US media, Attorney General William Barr wrote that such investigations “can be conducted if there are clear and apparently credible allegations of wrongdoing which, if true, could potentially have an impact on the result of a federal election in a given state “.

Mr Barr said prosecutors should only consider “substantive allegations” of irregularities, and “specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched allegations” should be ignored.

The New York Times reports that the Justice Department official who allegedly oversaw such investigations, Richard Pilger, resigned in response to Mr Barr’s memo.

The results of last Tuesday’s presidential election in the states of Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina and Alaska are still pending.

In Georgia, where the tally continues and where Biden is leading, his secretary of state hit back on Monday against fellow Republicans who criticized his handling of the election.

Brad Raffensperger, whose office oversees the elections in Georgia, said: “Was there an illegal vote? I’m sure. And my office is investigating all of this.

“Did he hit the number or the margin needed to change the outcome by giving President Trump the electoral votes for Georgia? It’s unlikely.”

States must resolve recounts and court challenges over results by December 8. The result will be finalized when members of the U.S. Electoral College meet on December 14.

Senior leaders in the presidential party have largely refused to pressure Trump to concede.

Senate Leader Mitch McConnell slammed Democrats on Monday over the matter.

“Let us have no lectures, no lectures,” said the Kentucky senator from the upper house floor, “on how the president should immediately and cheerfully accept the preliminary election results from the same people who have just come from. spend four years refusing to accept the validity of the last election and who has insinuated that this would also be illegitimate if they lose again – only if they lose.

He added: “The president has every right to examine the allegations and to demand recounts under the law and in particular the Constitution does not give any role in this process to the rich media companies”.