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Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens denied a request by President Donald Trump‘s campaign to halt vote counting in Michigan, questioning some evidence provided and describing it as “hearsay” in a Thursday afternoon ruling.
Bill Stepien, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, released a Wednesday statementannouncing the campaign’s plan to file the lawsuit as it became increasingly clear that Michigan’s votes would go for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The state was called by the Associated Press and the major networks later in the day.
The lawsuit alleged that Michigan’s absentee voter counting boards have not carried out the process transparently, and have prevented—and in some cases removed—Republican challengers from observing the process. The case also included a filing from an unidentified poll challenger who claimed that a poll worker was told to change the date of receipt on a mail-in ballot in Detroit.
“What I have at best is a hearsay affidavit, I believe, that addresses a harm that would be significant, but that’s what we got,” Stephens said regarding the poll challenger’s claim. “We’ve got an affidavit that is not firsthand knowledge.”
”I heard somebody else say something’—how is that not hearsay? Come on now,” Stephens asked as Trump’s lawyer attempted to push back against the “hearsay” point.
Michigan’s Assistant Attorney General Heather Meingast pointed out that the lawsuit was now “moot” because the counting process in Michigan has ended. A lawyer representing the Democratic National Committee, which joined the defense, agreed that part of the suit was based on “hearsay” and asserted that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson should not be the defendant for other allegations, as she had provided appropriate guidance to local officials who oversee the counting. If a poll challenger had been denied entry or removed from a counting center, the Trump campaign would need to file suit against that specific county clerk, the lawyer said. – newsweek
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