On Friday, a delegation of Republican state lawmakers from Michigan visited Washington as part of President Donald Trump’s Hail Mary election lawsuits that are aimed at usurping the results of the recently concluded elections. By the end of the day, the lawmakers were clear that President-elect Joe Biden's win in Michigan still stands.
The president has raised questions regarding the presidential election in Michigan without offering any evidence to back his claim or overturn the result, which saw Biden winning by nearly 150,000 votes. As part of this attempt, Trump has started a campaign to push Republicans in the state to support his attempts to reverse the outcome, POLITICO reported.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the recently concluded gathering was not an advocacy meeting, adding that Trump campaign members will not be present. However, several attorneys running the president's legal effort to challenge and overturn the outcome of the election were slated to call in.
Details about the number of GOP legislators visiting the White House are scarce. The group included Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, as well as House Speaker Lee Chatfield. Jason Wentworth, who replaced Chatfield as a speaker, was also spotted at a Washington, D.C. airport.
In a joint statement after the meeting, Shirkey and Chatfield said they have not yet been provided any information that would change the results of the election in Michigan. The meeting is a result of an idea touted by some Trump loyalists who suggest the GOP-controlled state legislatures could turn down the popular vote and nominate a slate of Electoral College electors that back Trump.
Other Trump 2020 campaign members have privately rejected the president's baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud while publicly supporting his legal drive. One of the advisers reminded the Trump campaign that the president was running out the clock.
The adviser went on to say that Friday's meeting wasn't likely to lead to jaw-dropping developments, nor were the election results going to change between now and Jan. The meeting was likely to be graced by some of Trump's legal team members, raising questions about what they might tell the Michigan delegation to do.
After taking over the Trump campaign's legal battles, Rudy Giuliani told a New York City Fox affiliate that he would be available to answer questions from Trump or the state lawmakers about Michigan's situation. He insisted that he knows the case better than anyone else.