https://www.theguardian.com/

US District Judge Randolph Moss said that though his order will temporarily stay the execution, now slated for December 8, it will “not enjoin any government official, including the President,” from taking any adverse action on her request for a reprieve, Reuters writes.

A federal judge today agreed to briefly stay the execution of Lisa Montgomery, the lone woman on federal death row, after her attorneys fell ill with Covid-19 and were unable to file a timely clemency petition on her behalf.

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He added that if her lawyers are not able to file her clemency request by December 24, then they must have other counsel appointed on her behalf.

His ruling came after a hearing earlier this week, where Moss had at times appeared skeptical on whether to grant Montgomery more time to petition for clemency.

Montgomery, now 52, was convicted in 2007 of kidnapping and strangling Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant. Montgomery then cut the baby, who survived the attack, out from the womb.

Both her lead clemency attorneys, Kelley Henry and Amy Harwell, have been too sick with Covid-19 to prepare and file her petition.

Her lawyers had said that Montgomery has long suffered from severe mental illness and was the victim of sexual assault, including gang rape.

*The district court*s ruling gives Lisa Montgomery a meaningful opportunity to prepare and present a clemency application after her attorneys recover from Covid,” said Sandra Babcock, one of her attorneys, in a statement in response to today’s ruling.

Today so far

The Trump campaign’s press conference, which focused on baseless claims of election fraud and attacks on the media, has now concluded.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• The president’s lawyers continued to push false claims of voter fraud, as states move toward certifying their election results. When reporters pressed the Trump campaign for evidence to substantiate their allegations, the lawyers lashed out against the journalists, accusing them of “making light” of their false claims.
• Another 742,000 Americans filed claims for new unemployment benefits last week, marking a slight increase from a week earlier. The news comes as coronavirus cases surge across the country, forcing a number of states to heighten their health restrictions.
• A Republican canvasser in Wayne county confirmed that Donald Trump called her on Tuesday night, after she and a colleague briefly tried to block the county from certifying its election results. A day later, the two Republican canvassers said they wanted to rescind their votes to certify, but Michigan is on track to certify statewide results by Monday.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

• certifying their election results. When reporters pressed the Trump campaign for evidence to substantiate their allegations, the lawyers lashed out against the journalists, accusing them of “making light” of their false claims.
• Another 742,000 Americans filed claims for new unemployment benefits last week, marking a slight increase from a week earlier. The news comes as coronavirus cases surge across the country, forcing a number of states to heighten their health restrictions.
• A Republican canvasser in Wayne county confirmed that Donald Trump called her on Tuesday night, after she and a colleague briefly tried to block the county from certifying its election results. A day later, the two Republican canvassers said they wanted to rescind their votes to certify, but Michigan is on track to certify statewide results by Monday.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.Updated at 19.30 GMT09.39 GMT

Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser for the Trump campaign, attacked a reporter for requesting evidence of the campaign’s baseless claims of election fraud.

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“Your question is fundamentally flawed, when you’re asking, ‘Where’s the evidence?’ You clearly don’t understand the legal process,” Ellis said.

The Trump campaign lawyers have had dozens of opportunities to present evidence of widespread fraud in court, and they have yet to substantiate those claims.Updated at 19.30 GMT09.39 GMT

The Trump campaign turned off its live feed of the legal team’s press conference after the audio was briefly taken over by people offering running commentary on Rudy Giuliani’s dripping hair dye and other aspects of the presser.

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Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, criticized reporters for noting in their coverage that the Trump campaign has presented no evidence of widespread election fraud.

The former New York mayor accused journalists of failing to do their jobs, seemingly complaining about major news outlets fact-checking the campaign’s false claims.

“Please don’t make light of it,” Giuliani said of the campaign’s baseless claims of election fraud, as hair dye continued to drip down the sides of his face.Updated at 19.30 GMT09.39 GMT

Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser for the Trump campaign, opened her remarks by attacking journalists for their coverage of the presidential election, which Joe Biden has won.

“The American people deserve to know what we have uncovered in the last couple of weeks,” Ellis said.

“This is an elite strike force team that is working on behalf of the president and the campaign to make sure that our constitution is protected.”

Fact-check: the president’s team has presented no evidence to substantiate claims of massive voter fraud in battleground states. Most of the campaign’s lawsuits have also already been defeated or dismissed.Updated at 19.30 GMT09.39 GMT

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Sidney Powell, another lawyer for the Trump campaign, presented a baseless claim linking allegedly defective voting machines to Hugo Chávez.

It’s unclear how Chávez may have impacted the 2020 US presidential election, given that he died more than seven years before it took place.

Powell — who previously represented Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser — also linked this non-existent conspiracy to Antifa and the Clinton Foundation.
Updated at 19.30 GMT09.39 GMT

Underscoring the surreal nature of the Trump campaign press conference, Rudy Giuliani appears to be sweating through his hair dye as he pushes baseless claims of election fraud.

Rudy Giuliani defended the Trump campaign’s lawsuits in battleground states, many of which have already been defeated or dismissed.

Giuliani noted that Democrat Al Gore continued his election dispute against George W Bush for weeks after the 2000 election.

However, the 2000 election hinged on one state, Florida, where Bush led by a few hundred votes, and there were protracted arguments about counting disputed ballots.

That is not the case we face now. Biden currently has 290 electoral votes, and that is likely to grow to 306 votes once Georgia completes its recount.

So, even if one state were to flip to Donald Trump, which is extremely unlikely, it would not be enough to change the outcome of the presidential election.

More importantly, the president’s team has not produced any evidence to substantiate claims of widespread election fraud.

This race is over. The only remaining question is when (if ever) Trump and his team will acknowledge that.Updated at 19.30 GMT09.39 GMT

At one point during the press conference, Rudy Giuliani reenacted a scene from the movie “My Cousin Vinny,” which focuses on a New York lawyer defending his cousin and a friend in a murder trial.