“President Donald Trump failed again to invalidate his election loss in Georgia and allow the state’s Republican-led legislature to declare him the winner – his latest courtroom defeat in a quixotic effort to remain in office despite losing the Nov. 3 vote. U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen in Atlanta on Tuesday ruled that Georgia’s certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory was carried out validly under state law, and that the court can’t tell Congress which Electoral College votes it can count, a person familiar with the matter said.”

“The ruling came in a Dec. 31 lawsuit filed by Trump that rehashed claims of voter fraud previously made by his campaign and allies in dozens of other cases that were universally rejected by courts. The latest suit came just days before Trump held a controversial call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a defendant in the case, asking him to “find” just enough votes to overturn Biden’s win. The hearing was held via videoconference for the lawyers and parties, but the public wasn’t permitted to call in after Trump’s lawyer declined to allow such access. The person familiar with the hearing, who asked not to be identified, provided details of the proceeding. Cohen’s clerk confirmed Trump’s motion was denied and said a written order would be issued later today. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Raffensperger, both Republicans, told the judge in a court filing Monday evening that Trump’s demands were ‘absurd,’ and that his lawsuit was the result of a ‘manufactured crisis.'” – Bloomberg.