Trump Ends Georgia Lawsuits Challenging Election Results

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on Dec. 12, 2020. Patrick Semansky/AP Photo

President Donald Trump’s legal team has voluntarily ended multiple lawsuits seeking to challenge the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia.

Lawyers for the Trump campaign in two cases, in which the president was the plaintiff, filed notices for voluntary dismissal, saying that they requested the courts to dismiss the cases due to “an out of court settlement agreement.”

One of the cases was in a state court and the other in a federal one.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s lawyer, in response, said that they did not object to the voluntary dismissal but argued that there was no settlement made between the parties.

The withdrawal of the lawsuits came on the same day Congress certified the Electoral College vote for Joe Biden on Jan. 7. Trump subsequently released a statement promising an orderly transition on Jan. 20.

The lawsuits had asked the courts to review allegations that “illegal” votes had been cast and counted in the state in the 2020 election. Both cases were previously rejected by judges. In the federal case, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Cohen for the Northern District of Georgia ruled that Trump lacked the legal standing—or legal right—to bring the suit over claims under the Electors Clause and Due Process Clause in the U.S. Constitution.

Cohen also said that his court lacked the jurisdiction to grant Trump’s request to de-certify the election results as the president’s election contest is still pending in a state court.

The judge also found that Trump’s team failed to establish a likelihood of success in his claims and show that Trump would suffer “irreparable harm” if an injunction was not granted.

The results of these cases follow the same pattern of ruling by other state and federal judges who have denied to hear similar claims over procedural reasons. Some judges have also said that they were not convinced by the claims presented by Trump’s legal team.

Trump has previously justified his legal challenges as his attempt to protect the sanctity of the ballot box and democratic processes. Although a slew of evidence was released in recent weeks in the form of sworn affidavits and expert testimony, the claims were repeatedly denied by ruling election officials and some lawmakers. Trump’s critics and most members of legacy media have also characterized the claims as “baseless.”

In an address to Americans on Thursday, Trump said he still strongly believes election laws need to be reformed.

“I continue to strongly believe that we must reform our election laws to verify the identity and eligibility of all voters, and to ensure faith and confidence in all future elections,” he said.

The president’s concerns over election integrity have been shared by a number of experts and lawmakers, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll from November shows that 39 percent of Americans strongly agree or somewhat agree that the 2020 election was “rigged,” while 54 percent said they strongly disagreed or somewhat disagreed with the statement.

Two other lawsuits filed by third parties that alleged irregularities in the 2020 election have also been voluntarily dismissed, according to AJC.