Wisconsin Supreme Court turns away Trump election lawsuit

Wisconsin’s top court turned away a lawsuit from President Trump that sought to have the state’s election results decertified, yet another blow to Trump’s long-shot legal efforts to undo President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court said on Thursday that the lawsuit filed this week would be best suited for one of the state’s lower courts.

Trump filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, asking the state Supreme Court to toss out more than 200,000 votes in Democratic-leaning counties that he alleges were illegally cast.

Biden won the battleground state by more than 20,000 votes.

“We welcome the direction of the Supreme Court to file in Dane and Milwaukee Counties as we pursue making certain that only legal votes count in Wisconsin — and we will immediately do so,” Jim Troupis, an attorney for the campaign, said in a statement Thursday.

“It was clear from their writings that the court recognizes the seriousness of these issues, and we look forward to taking the next step. We fully expect to be back in front of the Supreme Court very soon,” he added.

The lawsuit was filed against Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and state elections officials. Evers’ attorneys on Wednesday blasted the complaint in a court filing.

“President Trump’s Petition seeks nothing less than to overturn the will of nearly 3.3 million Wisconsin voters,” the brief reads. “It is a shocking and outrageous assault on our democracy. The relief he seeks is wrong as a matter of law, incorrect as a matter of fact, and mistaken as a matter of procedure.”

Trump and his allies have flooded battleground states with litigation in a last-ditch effort to nullify Biden’s victory. Their attempts have largely proved unsuccessful.

The state Supreme Court’s order comes a day after Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud, undercutting the president’s claims.

Updated at 2:41 p.m.