{"id":8036,"date":"2025-10-19T12:28:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T12:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/8036\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T12:28:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T12:28:13","slug":"trump-lawyers-withdraw-on-eve-of-key-hearing-in-pennsylvania-election-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/8036\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump lawyers withdraw on eve of key hearing in Pennsylvania election case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Item 1 of 2 Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump rally as a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden celebrates outside the State Capitol building after news media declared Biden to be the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 7, 2020.  REUTERS\/Leah Millis<\/p>\n<p>[1\/2]Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump rally as a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden celebrates outside the State Capitol building after news media declared Biden to be the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 7, 2020. &#8230; <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersconnect.com\/item\/supporters-of-us-president-donald-trump-rally-as-a-supporter-of-democratic-presidential-nominee-joe-biden-celebrates-outside-the-state-capitol-building-after-news-media-declared-biden-to-be-the-winner-of-the-2020-us-presidential-election-in-harrisbur\/dGFnOnJldXRlcnMuY29tLDIwMjA6bmV3c21sX1JDMlA0SzlQTEE4OQ%3D%3D\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76 collapsible-caption-module__license__CPQvV\">Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab<\/a> Read more<\/p>\n<p>Nov 16 (Reuters) &#8211; Three more lawyers representing President Donald Trump&#8217;s campaign have asked to withdraw from his lawsuit challenging the U.S. election results in Pennsylvania, shaking up his legal team on the eve of a major court hearing.<\/p>\n<p>The lawyers &#8211; Linda Kerns, John Scott and Douglas Bryan Hughes &#8211; made the request in a court filing on Monday, adding that the campaign consented to their withdrawal.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/trump-lawyers-withdraw-eve-key-hearing-pennsylvania-election-case-2020-11-17\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fworld%2Fus%2Ftrump-lawyers-withdraw-eve-key-hearing-pennsylvania-election-case-2020-11-17%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a brief order on Monday night, the judge hearing the case allowed Scott and Hughes to withdraw but not Kerns.<\/p>\n<p>Harrisburg-based lawyer Marc Scaringi has joined the case and will be Trump&#8217;s lead counsel. Scaringi and the three attorneys who sought to withdraw did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Scaringi on Monday asked the judge to postpone a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, saying he and a law partner &#8220;need additional time to adequately prepare.&#8221; The judge quickly denied the request.<\/p>\n<p>Jenna Ellis, a legal adviser with the Trump campaign, said the change was routine.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The president announced Saturday that he has asked Mayor Rudy Giuliani to lead the national legal team, along with local counsel. Our substitution of local counsel is consistent with routine managing of complex litigation,&#8221; Ellis said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The filing did not give a reason for the change, which came days after a prominent regional law firm, Porter Wright Morris &amp; Arthur, also withdrew from the case.<\/p>\n<p>In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers at Porter Wright said it had agreed that its clients &#8211; the campaign and two registered voters &#8211; &#8220;will be best served if Porter Wright withdraws.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Kerns said in a recent court filing that she has faced a torrent of harassing emails and phone messages due to her work for the Trump campaign.<\/p>\n<p>A federal judge in Williamsport will hear arguments on Tuesday in the Trump campaign&#8217;s lawsuit, filed on Nov. 9, which seeks to halt the state&#8217;s top election official from certifying Joe Biden, a Democrat, as the winner.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump campaign is filing lawsuits that are &#8220;borderline frivolous&#8221; and will not change the election&#8217;s outcome even if successful, said Bruce Green, a professor of legal ethics at Fordham Law School.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s doomed to fail anyway. So, does it really make a difference if another lawyer comes in? I think in most people&#8217;s view, these cases are not being filed with any expectation that they&#8217;ll prevail,&#8221; Green said.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Jan Wolfe and David Thomas; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Christopher Cushing<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><a data-testid=\"AuthorBioImageLink\" class=\"author-bio-module__author-image__jcaG3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/david-thomas\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/arc-authors\/reuters\/c0bc1ade-6dbc-4e99-8872-0ffc26a59920.jpg\" alt=\"David Thomas\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 author-bio-module__description__9ynkB\">David Thomas reports on the business of law, including law firm strategy, hiring, mergers and litigation. He is based out of Chicago. He can be reached at d.thomas@thomsonreuters.com and on Twitter @DaveThomas5150.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Item 1 of 2 Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump rally as a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6939,6930,6949,6943,6942,6948,6944,6946,6945,6947,6931,6932,6929,6940,6933,6950,6951,28,30,29,6934,6935,6936,593,6941,1823,6937,6938],"class_list":{"0":"post-8036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-amers","9":"tag-clj","10":"tag-destlcom","11":"tag-destnoinwdm","12":"tag-destoukwdm","13":"tag-destous12","14":"tag-destousdnm","15":"tag-destouspom","16":"tag-destoustpm","17":"tag-destrtrfln","18":"tag-gen","19":"tag-judic","20":"tag-mtpix","21":"tag-namer","22":"tag-news1","23":"tag-packageus-politics","24":"tag-packageus-top-news","25":"tag-pennsylvania","26":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","27":"tag-pennsylvania-news","28":"tag-pol","29":"tag-potus","30":"tag-pxp","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-usapa","33":"tag-vote","34":"tag-votp","35":"tag-wash"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}