Jonathan Goldstein, an attorney representing President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, told a Pennsylvania judge that during a Tuesday court appearance he was unaware of fraudulent vote-counting procedures in Montgomery County, Montgomery State.
The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit the day before to challenge the election results against Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar and local election officials in seven counties, including Montgomery.
The campaign’s Montgomery petition alleged that election officials had illegally counted some 600 absent and submitted ballots, which they felt should have been discarded due to “deficiencies.
However, when a judge presiding over the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas urged Goldstein to address the question of whether the tabulation proceedings involving these ballots constituted fraud, Trump’s attorney said that this was not the case.
“I’m asking you a specific question, and I’m looking for a specific answer. Are you claiming that there is fraud in connection with these 592 uncontested ballots,” a judge asked during Tuesday’s hearing, according to court transcripts.
“To the best of my knowledge, no at this time,” Goldstein replied. Earlier, the attorney evaded a similar question from the court, admitting that “the fraud charge is a pretty big step.
“We are all just trying to make an election,” he continued. “We think that these [ballot papers and postal ballots]were a mistake, but we think that they are a fatal mistake and that these ballots should not be counted.
Trump’s re-election campaign filed a dozen or so lawsuits last week that related to the counting of ballots across the United States after early coverage placed him in the Swing States ahead of Biden, who fainted as polling officials continued to collect and count ballots cast by mail. In addition to the campaign’s efforts to refute the election results in court, Trump repeatedly claimed without evidence that voter fraud and Democratic corruption cost him the presidential race. His allegations that he had used more postal ballots in light of this year’s coronavirus pandemic are unfounded and widely considered false.
Amidst the wave of lawsuits, the Trump campaign initiated several lawsuits in Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state where both candidates fought a fierce campaign to win in the last phase of the election season. Several media, including the Associated Press, projected Biden as the winner in Pennsylvania on Saturday, putting him above the 270 votes needed to win the White House.
Washington Newsday turned to the Trump campaign for additional comments, but did not receive responses in time for publication. Goldstein told Washington Newsday that he was sticking to his comments as reflected in the court transcript.
