by the Trump team and their allies. For example, courts described the arguments as "an amalgamation of theories, conjecture, and speculation," "allegations … sorely wanting of relevant or reliable evidence," "strained legal arguments without merit," assertions that “did not prove by any standard of proof that any illegal votes were cast and counted," and even a "fundamental and obvious misreading of the Constitution."[79]
Reflecting back on this period, Trump Campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh texted colleagues in January 2021 about a news report that the New York State Bar was considering expelling Rudolph Giuliani over the Ellipse rally: "Why wouldn't they expel him based solely on the outrageous lies he told for 2 1/2 months?"[80]
This is exactly what ultimately came to pass. When suspending his license, a New York court said that Giuliani "communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed effort at reelection in 2020."[81] The court added that "[t]he seriousness of [Giuliani's] uncontroverted misconduct cannot be overstated."[82]
Other Trump lawyers were sanctioned for making outlandish claims of election fraud without the evidence to back them up, including Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and seven other pro-Trump lawyers in a case that a Federal judge described as "a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process":
It is one thing to take on the charge of vindicating rights associated with an allegedly fraudulent election. It is another to take on the charge of deceiving a federal court and the American people into believing that rights were infringed, without regard to whether any laws or rights were in fact violated. This is what happened here.[83]
A group of prominent Republicans have more recently issued a report—titled Lost, Not Stolen—examining "every count of every case brought in these six battleground states" by President Trump and his allies. The report concludes "that Donald Trump and his supporters had their day in court and failed to produce substantive evidence to make their case."[84] President Trump and his legal allies "failed because of a lack of evidence and not because of erroneous rulings or unfair judges . . . . In many cases, after making extravagant claims of wrongdoing, Trump's legal representatives showed up in court or state proceedings empty-handed, and then returned to their rallies and media campaigns to repeat the same unsupported claims."[85]
There is no reasonable basis for the allegation that these dozens of rulings by State and Federal courts were somehow politically motivated.[86] The outcome of these suits was uniform regardless of who appointed the judges.
