Thursday could prove crucial in Trump's elections lawsuits in Wisconsin bit.ly/2JVklYd
Today's hearing is going slowly.
After 30 minutes of technical troubles and a discussion of how to handle witnesses, the court is taking a 20-minute break.
After the break, U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig will likely decide how much testimony to allow.
After a two-hour break, the court is back.
Judge Brett Ludwig tells the attorneys that handing over the state's electoral votes to state lawmakers would likely be the most remarkable ruling in the history of the judiciary.
Judge: "It’s not lost on me that this is a political case, obviously, and that the relief that’s been requested, if that relief were granted, this would be a most remarkable proceeding and probably the most remarkable ruling in the history of this court or the federal judiciary."
The judge in question is Brett Ludwig, who was nominated to the bench by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in September.
Today's hearing (audio only) is being streamed here:
Side note: Trump's attorney does not know how to pronounce @GovEvers' name. (It's ee-vers, not eh-vers.)
The judge has called a late lunch break.
The hearing -- which is moving slowly -- will resume at 2:30 p.m. CT.
We heard more arguments this afternoon. Now both sides have wrapped up.
The judge is taking a break till 3:45 p.m. CT. He says he'll have some questions when he returns.
One of U.S. District Judge Brett Ludwig's main questions for @realDonaldTrump's attorney -- why didn't the president raise his many arguments before the Nov. 3 election?
He says the state has a strong case when it says Trump waited too long to bring his challenge.
Ludwig: "I'm hoping to get (a decision) out in the next day or two."
Ludwig notes an appeal is inevitable.
"I also appreciate that nobody on this call thinks that my word is the last word on this, including me," he says before adjourning.
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.@judgekarofsky comes out swinging in arguments over lawsuit Trump brought over the election in Wisconsin's two most populous counties.
"This lawsuit, Mr. Troupis, smacks of racism," Karofsky tells Trump attorney Jim Troupis.
.@justicedallet notes Trump is challenging an election form that has been in use for more than a decade. That form was used when Trump won the state in 2016.
"What I’m hearing you say then is really the form was fine in 2016 when it helped the president to win," Dallet says.
At the outset of a trial in one of Trump's lawsuits, Reserve Judge Stephen Simanek says he will not allow anyone to intervene or file friend-of-the-court briefs.
Meanwhile, Trump's allies in the state Legislature will hold a hearing today over how the election was conducted. Some background on that hearing is here: jsonline.com/story/news/pol…
The Republican state lawmaker leading a hearing on elections won't say whether he believes Biden won in Wisconsin bit.ly/2K5Hgjw
Rep. @Ron_Tusler, the chairman of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, said he would not vote early in person in the spring election, as he did in November, because he no longer believes the procedure is being conducted legally by officials around the state.
Asked if he wanted to have the Legislature change how the state’s electoral votes will be cast, Tuslersaid “I’m undecided on that right now."
He acknowledged any change would have to happen before the Electoral College meets Monday & doing so would be difficult.
Preparations are under way for Dane County’s recount at the Monona Terrace.
“The first day is slow. The first day is not ideal, and then it picks up pace.” — @samcdonell, the Dane County clerk and chair of the county’s Board of Canvassers.
Today they are starting to count the number of ballots and absentee envelopes. They won’t start tallying votes until tomorrow. They’ll use high-speed tabulating machines to do that.