Appeals court shoots down GOP lawsuit — before the defendant could even file a legal brief: report

Republicans seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election continued to face legal setbacks on Monday -- nearly two months after President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner.

"A federal court swatted down the latest bid by the head of the Arizona Republican Party to change the rules for counting electoral votes," the Arizona Daily Star reported Monday.

"After Kelli Ward and her fellow plaintiffs filed their paperwork, it took just eight hours and three minutes for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to rule they have no legal standing to challenge the Electoral Count Act. The plaintiffs' list also includes Republican U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas. In fact, the three-judge panel didn't even wait for Vice President Mike Pence, who is the defendant in the lawsuit, to file a reply to the plaintiffs' legal brief," the newspaper noted. "Instead, the judges said all they needed to do is review what was filed in trial court as well as the 13-page opinion of U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle, who tossed the case only a day before on the question of the right to sue."

All three of the judges were appointed by Republican presidents -- one was even appointed by President Trump.

"Absent intervention now by the U.S. Supreme Court, that clears the way for Congress to meet on Wednesday to count the electoral votes which, according to results certified by the states, would make Democrat Joe Biden the next president, with 306 electoral votes —including 11 from Arizona — against 232 for the incumbent," the newspaper noted.