Trump campaign distances itself from attorney Sidney Powell: Transition updates
The campaign now says she's not a member of the president's legal team.
President-elect Joe Biden is moving forward with transition plans, capping a tumultuous and tension-filled campaign during a historic pandemic against President Donald Trump, who still refuses to concede the election two weeks after Biden was projected as the winner and is taking extraordinary moves to challenge the results.
Running out of legal alternatives to override the election loss, Trump invited Michigan's top Republican state lawmakers to visit the White House on Friday, as he and allies pursue a pressure campaign to overturn results in a state Biden won by more than 150,000 votes.
Despite Trump's roadblocks and his administration refusing to recognize Biden as the president-elect, Biden is forging ahead as he prepares to announce key Cabinet positions.
Though Trump has alleged widespread voter fraud, he and his campaign haven't been able to provide the evidence to substantiate their claims and the majority of their lawsuits have already resulted in unfavorable outcomes.
Top headlines:
Biden to meet with Democratic leadership Friday
A Biden transition official confirms the president-elect is meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware.
It's their first in-person meeting since the election.
The three spoke over the phone last week and discussed how to pass another COVID-19 relief bill to help Americans struggling amid the pandemic.
-ABC News' Mary Bruce
By the numbers: Trump campaign election lawsuits
The Trump campaign has so far filed at least 19 lawsuits across five states since Election Day. These suits have had 15 unfavorable outcomes so far (either denied, dismissed, withdrawn, etc.), and at least seven of those rulings are being appealed. The campaign has had one favorable outcome that still stands. There have been no rulings yet in three cases.
Here's a breakdown:
Michigan - 2 lawsuits total
Lawsuit 1: Lost (denied, pending appeal).
Lawsuit 2: Withdrawn.
Georgia - 1 lawsuit total
Lawsuit 1: Lost. (denied and dismissed).
Nevada - 3 lawsuits total
Lawsuit 1: Withdrawn and remanded.
Lawsuit 2: Denied.
Lawsuit 3: No outcome yet.
Arizona - 2 lawsuits total
Lawsuit 1: Dismissed.
Lawsuit 2: Dismissed.
Pennsylvania - 11 lawsuits total
Lawsuit 1: Lost (currently on appeal).
Lawsuit 2: Lost (currently on appeal).
Lawsuit 3: Lost (currently on appeal).
Lawsuit 4: Lost (currently on appeal).
Lawsuit 5: Lost (currently on appeal).
Lawsuit 6: Lost (currently on appeal).
Lawsuit 7: Lost.
Lawsuit 8: Win.
Lawsuit 9: Lost.
Lawsuit 10: No outcome yet.
Lawsuit 11: No outcome yet.
-ABC News' Matthew Mosk, Alex Hosenball and Olivia Rubin
Trump to meet with Michigan state lawmakers on Friday at White House: Sources
Trump is expected to meet with Michigan's top state lawmakers, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield, on Friday at the White House after requesting the visit, sources tell ABC News.
The extraordinary move comes amid the Trump campaign's ongoing fight over the outcome of the election in the battleground, with relentless unsubstantiated claims of fraud and a string of legal challenges to the results.
As the president runs out of alternatives to challenge Biden's clear victory in the state by nearly 150,000 votes, members of the president's legal team have openly said the last recourse might be the GOP-controlled legislature intervening by overriding the will of the people and choosing their own slate of pro-Trump electors to vote for the president at the Electoral College's December meeting.
Shirkey quashed the idea to Bridge Michigan, a local news outlet, saying that the legislature will not move to award the state's 16 electors to Trump. "That's not going to happen," he said.
A spokesperson for the state Senate majority leader also reiterated that state law does not allow for the legislature to step in and directly select the electors or award the electors to anyone other than the popular vote winner.
-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Kendall Karson
Biden, Harris meet with governors on the pandemic
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are holding a virtual meeting with the National Governors Association's Executive Committee to discuss the surging pandemic, pushing forward with their transition despite Trump's roadblocks.
As he did on the campaign trail, Biden cast himself as someone who will be a "partner in the White House" to governors no matter their party.
"I mean this from the bottom of my heart -- I don’t see this as a red state issue or a blue state issue. I see this -- we’re all in this together," Biden said.
He again lamented that his team has been unable to access vaccination distribution plans and other data as the Trump administration refuses to ascertain him as the president-elect.
Joined by five Democratic governors and five Republicans, Biden has long maintained he will need bipartisan support to implement mask mandates as a key tool to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Following the meeting, Biden and Harris will deliver joint remarks from The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware.
Chris Christie: It’s time for Trump election challenges to end
When ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos asked former New Jersey Governor and ABC News Contributor Chris Christie if it was time for Trump's challenges to the election results to end, he agreed.
"Yes. And here's the reason why the president has had an opportunity to access the courts," Christie said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. "And I said to you -- you know, George, starting at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, if you've got the evidence of fraud, present it."
"What's happened here is quite frankly -- the conduct of the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment," he added.