An appellate court can grant or deny relief. Whichever it does it usually does with polite language. Then there is the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit opinion delivered today by Trump appointee Stephanos Bibas for the three-Republican-judge panel of the Third Circuit in the case of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., et al v Secretary Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al. You don't have to be a legal eagle to read the weariness in Judge Bibas' words at the Trump Campaign's legal bunkruptcy and as-inept-as-pro-se lawyering.
BIBAS, Circuit Judge.
Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.
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The District Court ended these volleys...
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6. We commend the District Court for its fast, fair, patient handling of this demanding litigation.
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That is conclusory. So is the claim that, “[u]pon information and belief, a substantial portion of the approximately 1.5 million absentee and mail votes in Defendant Counties should not have been counted.” Id. ¶¶ 168, 194, 223, 253. “Upon information and belief” is a lawyerly way of saying that the Campaign does not know that something is a fact but just suspects it or has heard it....
III. NO STAY OR INJUNCTION IS WARRANTED
We could stop here. Once we affirm the denial of leave to amend, this case is over. Still, for completeness, we address the Campaign’s emergency motion to stay the effect of certification. No stay or injunction is called for.
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A. The Campaign has no strong likelihood of success on the merits
As discussed, the Campaign cannot win this lawsuit.
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These claims cannot succeed.
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Seeking to turn those state-law claims into federal ones, the Campaign claims discrimination. But its alchemy cannot transmute lead into gold.
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Calling something discrimination does not make it so.
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We will thus affirm the District Court’s denial of leave to amend, and we deny an injunction pending appeal. The Campaign asked for a very fast briefing schedule, and we have granted its request. Because the Campaign wants us to move as fast as possible, we also deny oral argument. We grant all motions to file overlength responses, to file amicus briefs, and to supplement appendices. We deny all other outstanding motions as moot. This Court’s mandate shall issue at once.
