Attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, who had filed lawsuits in the state of Georgia alleging fraud in the 2020 presidential election, had an appeal to analyze Dominion voting machines in the state denied by a federal judge on Friday.
President Donald Trump has claimed without evidence, among other things, that voting machines from the Dominion Voting Systems company were programmed to flip votes that were cast for him over to President-elect Joe Biden. Dominion has denied Trump's allegations. Powell and Wood have publicly stated their agreement with Trump's allegations and have filed lawsuits in attempts to prove the claims.
On Wednesday, Powell submitted a filing that asked the court to allow some Dominion voting machines to be examined by Republican electors. Members of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals were not sure if they had the authority to examine the appeal. On Friday, Powell entered a briefing alleging mitigating circumstances would allow the court to rule on the appeal. Judge Andrew Brasher of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Georgia denied the appeal later that day. Brasher was nominated to the court by Trump in 2019 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February.
"This appeal arises from last-minute litigation that alleges widespread election related misconduct and seeks sweeping relief," Brasher wrote. However, Brasher ruled that his court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
"Because we lack jurisdiction, the appeal is DISMISSED and the motion for
permissive appeal is DENIED," the ruling concluded. "Because we must dismiss this appeal, the defendants' conditional cross appeal is also DISMISSED. Any other pending motions are DENIED AS MOOT."
Brasher's decision was the latest blow to the Trump campaign's attempts to overturn election results in Georgia. On Friday, after three recounts of the ballots, Georgia projected that President-elect Joe Biden had won the state's election. According to the Associated Press, Biden garnered 49.5 percent of Georgia's popular vote while Trump obtained 49.3 percent of the vote.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
On Friday, the Trump campaign filed a separate lawsuit in Georgia seeking to invalidate the state's election results. This filing included sworn affidavits from people involved with the voting process in Georgia that alleged fraudulent activity.
"What was filed today clearly documents that there are literally tens of thousands of illegal votes that were cast, counted, and included in the tabulations the Secretary of State is preparing to certify," said Ray S. Smith III, lead counsel for the Trump Campaign in a Friday news release. "The massive irregularities, mistakes, and potential fraud violate the Georgia Election Code, making it impossible to know with certainty the actual outcome of the presidential race in Georgia."
In a Friday statement, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that his office had "found no evidence of widespread fraud" despite the multiple recounts.
