Page 27 - bon-dia-aruba-20201118

A27
u.s. news Diaranson 18 november 2020

Giuliani shows at Trump camp lawsuit hearing in Pennsylvania

(AP) — A hearing on the Trump have the lawsuit thrown out, calling The issues Trump’s campaign and its challenge being heard Tuesday cen-
campaign's federal lawsuit seek- its allegations in court filings “at best, allies have pointed to are typical in ters on how some counties let vot-
ing to prevent Pennsylvania offi- garden-variety irregularities.” every election: problems with signa- ers fix, or “cure,” mail-in ballots that
cials from certifying the vote re- Brann scheduled the hearing to dis- tures, secrecy envelopes and postal lacked secrecy envelopes or had other
sults was set to begin Tuesday af- cuss the campaign's request for a marks on mail-in ballots, as well as problems. The Trump campaign’s
ter a judge denied the campaign's temporary restraining order as well the potential for a small number of lawsuit claims counties’ inconsis-
new lawyer's request for a delay. as the defendants' request to have the ballots miscast or lost. tent practices violated constitutional
case dismissed. Trump’s campaign has also launched rights of due process and equal pro-
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York legal challenges complaining that its tection under the law and resulted
City mayor and the president’s per- After Pittsburgh lawyers dropped out poll watchers were unable to scru- in the “unlawful dilution or debase-
sonal attorney, entered the federal of representing Trump's campaign on tinize the voting process. Many of ment” of properly cast votes.
courthouse in Williamsport to cheers Friday, Philadelphia election lawyer those challenges were tossed out by “Democratic heavy counties,” the
across the street from several doz- Linda Kerns and two Texas lawyers judges, some within hours. lawsuit alleges, notified voters about
en supporters of President Donald also filed to withdraw Monday. the lack of secrecy envelopes or oth-
Trump. Camp Hill lawyer Mark Scaringi, a Trump’s legal team has so far scored er problems in time for some to fix
losing candidate in the 2012 Republi- just two small victories. In one case, a them, but counties in Republican re-
U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann can U.S. Senate primary, notified the court allowed their observers to stand gions “followed the law and did not
had told lawyers for Donald J. Trump judge he was stepping in but did not a little closer to election workers pro- provide a notice and cure process,
for President Inc. and the counties get the delay he sought. cessing mail-in ballots in Philadel- disenfranchising many.”
and state election official it has sued phia. In another, Pennsylvania coun- The lawsuit seeks to stop Boockvar
that they must show up and “be pre- The Associated Press has declared ties were ordered not to count mail- and election boards in seven Biden-
pared for argument and questioning" Biden the winner of the presiden- in or absentee ballots for which the majority counties that are co-defen-
at the federal courthouse. Giuliani tial contest, but Trump has refused voter didn’t submit valid identifica- dants from counting absentee and
filed Tuesday morning to represent to concede and is blocking Biden’s tion within six days after the election, mail-in ballots that the Republican
Trump in the case. He has not en- efforts toward a smoother transi- but that ruling is expected to affect no president’s campaign claims were
tered an appearance in federal court tion of power. With Georgia the only more than a few thousand ballots. “improperly permitted to be cured.”
since 1992, according to online court uncalled state, Biden has collected A slew of other legal challenges
records. That was the year before he at least 290 electoral votes — just brought by Republicans have quickly Boockvar’s lawyers described
was elected mayor. enough that overturning Pennsylva- been swatted down or withdrawn. Trump’s claims as generalized griev-
nia's result would not open an avenue ances and speculative injuries that
The Trump campaign wants to pre- to a second term for Trump. On Monday, a conservative group would not warrant throwing out the
vent certification of results that give Biden's margin in Pennsylvania is that has been pushing baseless claims election results.
President-elect Joe Biden the state's now more than 73,000 votes. that absentee voting is rife with fraud They told Brann that other counties
20 electoral votes, suing over election There is no evidence of widespread abruptly dropped lawsuits it had filed could have permitted their voters to
procedures that were not uniform fraud in the 2020 election, and experts in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylva- fix problem mail-in ballots, but chose
across the state. Giuliani has prom- say Trump’s various lawsuits have no nia and Georgia with no explanation. not to.
ised a raft of lawsuits and to provide chance of reversing the outcome in One Trump campaign case that is still “Election practices need not cater to
Trump with evidence of voter fraud a single state, let alone the election. pending seeks to block the certifica- the lowest common denominator,
in the drive to overturn the election In fact, election officials from both tion of election results in Michigan, and Plaintiffs’ arguments would im-
result. political parties have stated publicly but the state appeals court on Mon- properly penalize those counties that
that the election went well, and inter- day denied another bid to stop the are enfranchising voters by helping
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy national observers confirmed there certification of Detroit-area votes. them avoid ballot disqualification,”
Boockvar, a Democrat, has asked to were no serious irregularities. In Pennsylvania, the Trump legal they wrote.

Weak 0.3% US October sales gain spreads some holiday unease

(AP) — Retail sales in the slowest retail sales growth investment officer at Plante even before many new re- Best Buy, Target and Walmart
U.S. grew a sluggish 0.3% since this spring, when the Moran, a financial advisory strictions on indoor dining offered holiday deals in mid-
in October, even as retail- pandemic shuttered stores, firm. “Weaker sales likely re- and curfews on bars were an- October to piggyback on
ers offered early holiday theaters, restaurants and flect several headwinds: the nounced in recent days. Amazon, which held its an-
discounts online and in work places. slowing recovery, the recent nual Prime Day sales event in
stores. Economists had expected surge in COVID-19 cases There is other evidence of the fall after it was postponed
sales to rise 0.5%, already a across the country...and the growing consumer caution: this summer due to the pan-
A surge in coronavirus in- significant tail off from Sep- reduction in fiscal support Overall spending actually demic. Online shopping
fections nationwide and the tember's gain of 1.6%. for sidelined workers.” fell in early November, ac- jumped 3.1% in October and
expiration of a $600 weekly cording to JPMorgan Chase, has soared by nearly a third in
boost to unemployment The data “point to a consum- Most of the gain occurred which anonymously tracks the past year.
checks over the summer has er sector that is becoming in just a few areas that re- activity on 30 million of its
slowed spending by Ameri- more cautious in its spending veal how the pandemic has debit and credit cards. The It was hoped that retail-
cans and contributed to the habits,” said Jim Baird, chief altered spending trends in decline was somewhat worse ers would be able to en-
America. Sales rose at home in states with viral spikes, tice Americans who to get a
and garden stores, electronics such as North Dakota and jumpstart holiday shopping
and appliance stores, and on- Iowa. Nationwide, spend- and avoid crowds.
line retailers. Those increases ing fell to 7.4% below a year Yet at clothing stores and
likely reflect ongoing home ago, JPMorgan said, a drop of sporting good shops, sales fell
renovations and perhaps about 2.5 percentage points more than 4%. Department
more computer purchases from two weeks earlier. stores had a bigger drop,
by those working from home down nearly 5%.
and those families with chil- The cutbacks could slow the
dren learning online. economy in the final three The Commerce report cov-
months of the year, with ers only about a third of
Many Americans likely with- some analysts forecasting overall consumer spending.
drew a bit out of fear of the growth of just 3% or 4% at Services such as haircuts and
virus: Spending at restaurants an annual rate, down from a hotel stays, which have been
and bars fell 0.1% in October, huge 33.1% snap back in the badly hurt by the pandemic,
the first drop in six months, July-September quarter. are not included.