Nevada Judge Dismisses Trump Lawsuit

Trump legal team to appeal

President Donald Trump participates in a medal ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Dec. 3, 2020. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

A Nevada judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign in the state that seeks to throw out tens of thousands of votes.

Judge James Russell wrote in his order (pdf) that the Trump campaign “did not prove under any standard of proof that any illegal votes were cast and counted, or legal votes were not counted at all, for any other improper or illegal reason, nor in an amount equal to or greater than 33,596, or otherwise in an amount sufficient to raise reasonable doubt as to the outcome of the election.”

Russell also wrote that the campaign did not prove “that the electronic voting machines malfunctioned in a manner sufficient to raise reasonable doubt” over the election outcome. The campaign also “did not prove that ’the election board or any member thereof was guilty of malfeasance,'” he wrote.

The judge also wrote that the campaign “did not prove that ’the defendant or any person acting, either directly or indirectly, on behalf of the defendant was given, or offered to give, to any person anything of value for the purpose of manipulating or altering the outcome of the election.”

He also ordered Trump campaign lawyers to pay the defendants’ legal fees.

“We disagree with the order,” Amanda Millius, spokesperson for Jesse Binnall, a lawyer on the Trump legal team, said in an emailed statement.

“The case and evidence we presented was compelling and overwhelming. We will be appealing to the Nevada Supreme Court.”

A worker handles official ballots at the Clark County Election Department in North Las Vegas, Nev., on Nov. 5, 2020,. Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images

Observers and members of the media look on as Clark County election workers scan mail-in ballots at the Clark County Election Department in North Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 20, 2020. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The Trump campaign had alleged that voting irregularities and fraud was to a level that would raise doubts about the outcome of the election in Nevada, where Biden’s margin of victory is 33,596 recorded votes, or 2.4 percent.

Trump’s lawyers had said in court that about 42,000 voters “voted twice” in Nevada and that 1,500 voters were listed as deceased by the Social Security Administration.

The team also said that 2,468 voters legally changed their addresses to another country or state, about 20,000 voters had a non-Nevada mailing address, and 6,000 voters who had U.S. Postal Service “flags” on “vacant addresses.”

They also submitted evidence that claims to show nearly 8,000 ballots cast “by voters with addresses that are physically non-existent,” and approximately 15,000 voters who were “registered to vacant or commercial properties that cast ballots,” according to the Nevada GOP.

The Nevada GOP shared a report (pdf) from a data science and analysis expert on its website for public access on Dec. 3. The report alleges the abovementioned numbers showing voting irregularities. Trump’s legal team said in the filing that the expert’s conclusions “will demonstrate fraudulent and improper voting in Nevada in an amount exceeding” Biden’s margin of victory.

Prior to the hearing over the lawsuit, the Nevada GOP said on Twitter that it had testimony from multiple witnesses reporting that “USB drives used in the election would show that vote tallies changed overnight.”

“That means in the dead of night, votes would appear or disappear on these voting machines during early voting and Election Day.”

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Nov. 25 signed a certificate of ascertainment for Democratic electors to cast their six votes to presidential nominee Joe Biden, a day after the state Supreme Court declared the results final.

The Epoch Times won’t declare a winner of the 2020 presidential election until all results are certified and any legal challenges are resolved.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.