Trump lawyer tells MontCo judge he has no evidence of fraud, report

An attorney representing President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign in a case in Montgomery County admitted in open court this week that he had no evidence of voter fraud, according to a published report.

The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee filed suit against the Montgomery County Board of Elections in an attempt to get the county from counting mail-in ballots.

In an exchange with the judge hearing the case, lawyer Jonathan Goldstein tried to refer to what the board was doing as a “scheme,” according to Philadelphia Magazine. But that claim did not survive an exchange with the judge.

From Philadelphia Magazine:

“In your petition, which is right before me — and I read it several times — you don’t claim that any electors or the Board of the County were guilty of fraud, correct?” asked the judge. “That’s correct?”

“Your Honor, accusing people of fraud is a pretty big step,” Goldstein replied. “And it is rare that I call somebody a liar, and I am not calling the Board of the DNC or anybody else involved in this a liar. Everybody is coming to this with good faith. The DNC is coming with good faith. We’re all just trying to get an election done. We think these were a mistake, but we think they are a fatal mistake, and these ballots ought not be counted.”

“I understand,” he told Goldstein. “I am asking you a specific question, and I am looking for a specific answer. Are you claiming that there is any fraud in connection with these 592 disputed ballots?”

“To my knowledge at present, no,” Goldstein said.

“Are you claiming that there is any undue or improper influence upon the elector with respect to these 592 ballots,” queried the judge.

“To my knowledge at present, no,” was Goldstein’s reply.

The Trump campaign is running into similar situations nationwide as it fights to block President-elect Joe Biden’s path to the inauguration in January, Philadelphia Magazine noted.

“You can’t go to court just because you don’t like the vote totals,” Ohio State University election law expert Ned Foley told MSNBC over the weekend, Philadelphia Magazine reported, citing previous work by NPR. “You have to have a legal claim, and you have to have evidence to back it up. And that’s just not there.”