By Jan Wolfe and David Thomas
(Reuters) – Three more lawyers representing President Donald Trump’s campaign have asked to withdraw from his lawsuit challenging the U.S. election results in Pennsylvania, shaking up his legal team on the eve of a major court hearing.
The lawyers – Linda Kerns, John Scott and Douglas Bryan Hughes – made the request in a court filing on Monday, adding that the campaign consented to their withdrawal.
According to the filing, Harrisburg-based lawyer Marc Scaringi has joined the case and will be Trump’s lead counsel. Scaringi and the three departing attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Jenna Ellis, a legal adviser with the Trump campaign, said the change was routine.
“The president announced Saturday that he has asked Mayor Rudy Giuliani to lead the national legal team, along with local counsel. Our substitution of local counsel is consistent with routine managing of complex litigation,” Ellis said in a statement.
The filing did not give a reason for the change, which came days after a prominent regional law firm, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, also withdrew from the case.
In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers at Porter Wright said it had agreed that its clients – the campaign and two registered voters – “will be best served if Porter Wright withdraws.”
Kerns said in a recent court filing that she has faced a torrent of harassing emails and phone messages due to her work for the Trump campaign.
A federal judge in Williamsport will hear arguments on Tuesday in the Trump campaign’s lawsuit, filed on Nov. 9, which seeks to halt the state’s top election official from certifying Joe Biden, a Democrat, as the winner.
Legal experts say the lawsuits have little chance of changing the outcome of the election. A senior Biden legal adviser has dismissed the litigation as “theatrics, not really lawsuits.”
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and David Thomas; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
