Trump campaign wants Giuliani to argue Pennsylvania appeal

President Donald Trump’s campaign is asking to have Rudy Giuliani argue the appeal in its federal lawsuit seeking to undo Pennsylvania’s certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

The Trump campaign on Wednesday asked the the US Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to schedule a hearing and permit Giuliani to present arguments. The former New York mayor and onetime federal prosecutor made his first court appearance in nearly three decades to argue the case before a trial judge at a Nov. 17 hearing, in which he occasionally displayed rusty legal knowledge and made wild claims of a vast voter-fraud conspiracy.

US District Judge Matthew Brann issued a stinging dismissal of the case on Saturday.

Giuliani doubled down on his conspiracy claims in an off-the-rails Thursday press conference alongside Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, whom the campaign disowned on Sunday. As he was speaking, what appeared to be streaks of hair dye appeared to run down the sides of Giuliani’s face, a moment that quickly became an internet meme.

A number of Trump allies called for the president to concede following the press conference, with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called the campaign legal team a “national embarrassment” on Sunday. But Giuliani appears to still enjoy the president’s confidence. The two were planning to appear together on Wednesday in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for a meeting with Republican state legislators to discuss voter-fraud allegations.

The campaign has asked the federal appeals court in Philadelphia for an emergency injunction blocking the “the effects” of certification while it seeks to revive the lawsuit. In a filing on Tuesday asking the court to deny the motion, Pennsylvania officials, who certified Biden’s victory on Tuesday, were quick to point out that it’s unclear what the relief the campaign is seeking even means.