US President Donald Trump vows to avoid any Covid-19 lockdown and refuses to concede in the Rose Garden of the White House. Video / AP
Although US President Donald Trump is yet to concede defeat, his administration's attempt at invalidating Joe Biden's election victory has gone from bad to worse.
To date, the President's legal team has not won a single case alleging that voter fraud led to Biden's win.
Out of almost 20 lawsuitsfiled by his team, the majority have been withdrawn or denounced by judges.
On Friday, the Trump campaign lost six cases in Montgomery County and Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania questioning the legitimacy of 9000 absentee ballots.
The campaign was also forced to drop a lawsuit in Arizona, which called for a review of the state's ballots.
A Michigan judge also denied a case brought by two poll challengers to block Biden's win in Detroit.
Not only did Chief Judge Timothy Kenny say that doing so would be an "unprecedented exercise of judicial activism", he also denied a request for an audit.
Adding insult to injury, the high-profile law firms representing Donald Trump in the all-important states of Arizona and Pennsylvania have also withdrawn their cases from the courts.
Donald Trump in the Oval Office with John McEntee, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, on Saturday. Photo / AP
Of the legal challenges which have been heard, many have failed due to a lack of evidence or legitimate sworn witness statements.
Presiding over a hearing on alleged election mishaps in Arizona, Judge Daniel Kiley refused to accept witness statements which he said were regarded as "false and spam" by Trump's own team, reported CNN.
"Let me just clarify," Judge Kiley said to the Trump campaign's counsel. "Your solicitation of witnesses yielded some sworn affidavits that you yourself clearly determined are false and spam, as you phrased it.
"The ones that you couldn't prove are false you submitted to the court?"
Although Trump's defiance has dominated US politics, on the whole, legal experts are confident his attempt to remain in the White House will be unsuccessful.
Speaking to Politico, the president of the Brennan Centre for Justice at New York University's School of Law, Michael Waldman, concluded "judges won't decide this election".
"None of the cases would affect enough votes to swing a key state, and Trump's goofball legal strategy would have to flip three," he said.
The campaign's claims of voter fraud are also baseless, said Lisa Manheim, law professor at the University of Washington.
"It's not clear that Trump even understands the basic logic of a lawsuit," she wrote. "To win a case, you need a claim, evidence and a remedy.
"Legal claims cannot be based on freewheeling tirades. They cannot be premised on unsubstantiated accusations. And they cannot support requests for relief that extend far beyond the scope of the claim."
Trump will remain President until January 20, when President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in. As it stands, Biden has won the election with 290 electoral college votes to Trump's 232.
Currently, Georgia is the only state result yet to be officially called because of a hand recount which began on Friday.
Trump's refusal to aid the Biden administration's transition process has also been widely criticised.
On Saturday, former White House chief of staff John Kelly said Trump's behaviour could have "catastrophic" results for the American people.
Kelly called on the government to immediately begin briefing Biden's team, calling it the "right and moral thing to do".
"The delay in transitioning is an increasing national security and health crisis," he said.
"It costs the current administration nothing to start to brief Mr Biden, Ms Harris, the new chief-of-staff, and ALL identified cabinet members and senior staff."
