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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Giuliani Seeks Special Relief to Appear at 3rd Circuit, Claiming Problems in NY

Blaming “Covid-19 complications” with the New York government, the Trump campaign’s legal team disclosed Wednesday that Rudy Giuliani isn’t certified to argue before the Third Circuit and needs special dispensation.

PHILADELPHIA (CN) — Blaming “Covid-19 complications” with the New York government, the Trump campaign’s legal team disclosed Wednesday that Rudy Giuliani isn’t certified to argue before the Third Circuit and needs special dispensation.

Harrisburg-based corporate lawyer Marc Scaringi asked the Philadelphia-based federal appeals court to make an exception that would admit Giuliani pro hac vice, though appearances by attorneys who are not members of the court are usually not permitted unless they are working pro bono.

“Unfortunately, Attorney Giuliani, who is admitted to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, has not been able to obtain the necessary certifications due to Covid-19 complications with government entities in New York,” the Harrisburg-based Scaringi wrote Wednesday in a 3-page letter to the court.

The Third Circuit has not yet agreed to hold oral argument on the campaign’s challenge to Pennsylvania's election results, which Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf only certified as final on Tuesday.

President-elect Joe Biden defeated the incumbent Trump by roughly 80,500 votes in the state.

As Biden’s national victory became increasingly clear in the days following the election, Trump’s campaign brought the suit here among dozens more to contest those results. Though the campaign has broadly asserted fraud and conspiracy, without providing evidence, in its public statements, the lawsuits tend to hinge on minor technicalities like errors on the envelopes in which ballots were mailed. In the case it is appealing to the Third Circuit, it said Pennsylvania’s votes could not be certified because of differences in how various counties helped citizens votes.

A federal judge had nixed the campaign’s challenge in a scathing ruling over the weekend, saying Trump would have 7 million voters disenfranchised without though it could not even “justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter.”

Scaringi complained to the Third Circuit on Wednesday that they deserve a chance since more than 70 million Americans nationwide voted for President Donald Trump.

“The campaign’s claims should be heard on the merits, and not dismissed for perceived procedural irregularities,” Scaringi wrote.

The state filed its opposition brief to Trump’s appeal on Tuesday.

“No federal court has ever issued an order enjoining a state’s certification, or directing decertification, of presidential electors — and appellants offer no reason why this court should be the first,” says the brief, which is co-signed by Pennsylvania Assistant Attorney General Keli Neary and Myers Brier attorney Daniel Brier.

The state says Trump does not meet the high bar for an injunction pending appeal with claims that “collapse upon even cursory inspection.”

“The injuries they alleged are entirely conjectural and the remedy they seek lacks any basis in law,” Neary and Brier wrote. “Finally, consideration of the public interest and the balance of the equities only confirms that there is no merit whatsoever to Appellants’ motion.”

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Categories / Appeals, Law, Politics

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