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Out of Order and Out of Job

Posted 12/4/20

To the Editor: Donald Trump told Fox News that he went to court (in Pennsylvania) and tried to get the court to throw out 2.5 million mail-in votes. The state's highest court told him he had no legal standing to bring the case. Trump responded by saying if he, as the President of the United States, cannot legally bring that case, there is something very wrong with our courts and our legal system.

In law, "standing" requires that the would-be plaintiff has suffered an injury; that the injury was caused by the defendant; and that it is probable that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision. Trump has no law degree and he doesn't listen to his lawyers, but it doesn't take a law degree to know that losing an election is not a redressable injury—without proof that the election was not legitimate. Neither Trump nor his attorneys have presented a single piece of evidence to show that any intentional acts or mistakes have occurred that altered the election outcome.

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