At Pennsylvania hearing, Trump team urges legislature to halt election certification

President Trump's legal team on Wednesday urged the Pennsylvania legislature to hold off on certifying the state's 2020 election results amid allegations of voting irregularities and potential fraud there. 

Speaking after multiple witnesses attested to alleged irregularities in the presidential election process in the state, Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis told the State Senate Majority Policy Committee: "Part of what [the legal team] did ask initially was to stop certification so that we could get to the bottom of this process."

"Clearly you've heard sufficient evidence today that would lead any reasonable finder of fact to say that there's been sufficient evidence that...you should not move forward with certification," Ellis said, arguing that the legislature possesses the power under the U.S. Constitution to make that call. 

Multiple witnesses as well as Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani earlier in the hearing alleged major voting irregularities in the state, claiming that Republican vote watchers were denied access to oversee the vote-counting process during the state's presidential election.

Citing the testimony of witnesses set to appear before the committee, Giuliani alleged: "In the case of Philadelphia, and in the case of Allegheny County, and one or two other counties, the mail-in ballots that were received were not inspected at all by any Republican. They were hidden from Republicans."

"There's only one time you get to [inspect a ballot]," Giuliani said, "and that's when you separate the envelope that possesses the verifying information from the ballot. The moment you separate them, you can no longer verify." 

Multiple Pennsylvania Republicans also testified before the committee claiming to have witnessed similar irregularities during the Pennsylvania vote. 

The hearing was convened by state Republicans to examine allegations of voter irregularities there. Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano said the meeting was called after sustained complaints from residents "regarding issues experienced at the polls, irregularities with the mail-in voting system and concerns whether their vote was counted.