Trump vows to appeal judge’s dismissal of Pennsylvania election challenge

President Trump in a late-night tweet lashed out a federal judge in Pennsylvania who dismissed a lawsuit brought by his campaign asking that the vote certification process in the key battleground state be halted. 

“It’s all a continuation of the never ending Witch Hunt,” Trump tweeted. “Judge Brann, who would not even allow us to present our case or evidence, is a product of Senator Pat ‘No Tariffs’ Toomey of Pennsylvania, no friend of mine, & Obama – No wonder.” 

“WILL APPEAL!” the president added in a subsequent tweet. 

….WILL APPEAL!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2020

Judge Matthew Brann ruled on Saturday the Trump campaign’s case alleging mail-in ballots in the Keystone State were treated differently from those cast in person was “without merit” and dismissed it. 

“In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state. Our people, laws, and institutions demand more,” Brann wrote. 

On Election Day, early returns showed Trump with a sizable lead among in-person voters, a tally that was slowly cut into and eventually surpassed by President-elect Joe Biden once mail-in ballots arrived and were counted. 

In the weeks following the presidential election, the Trump campaign has mounted legal challenges in Pennsylvania and other battleground states Biden flipped from red to blue with limited success. In Pennsylvania, Biden is leading Trump, who has not conceded the election, by more than 80,000 votes. 

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) congratulated Biden on his victory after news of Brann’s ruling broke, a move separating him from his Republican colleagues who have either cast doubt on the integrity of the presidential election or neglected to acknowledge Biden as the winner. 

“With today’s decision by Judge Matthew Brann, a longtime conservative Republican whom I know to be a fair and unbiased jurist, to dismiss the Trump campaign’s lawsuit, President Trump has exhausted all plausible legal options to challenge the result of the presidential race in Pennsylvania,” the senator said in a statement. 

Trump’s lawyers indicated that they are planning to take the Pennsylvania case to the 3rd Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Reuters reported.

“Witch Hunt” is a phrase Trump has used to describe former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the impeachment proceedings brought against him by Democrats late last year. 

The Trump campaign maintains it has evidence of widespread voter fraud in several states but has had multiple challenges rejected in court.