Another Republican senator has congratulated Biden on winning the 2020 election, saying Trump 'exhausted all plausible legal options'

• Republican Sen. Pat Toomey congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on his victory just hours after a federal judge tossed a major Trump campaign lawsuit seeking to challenge the election results.

• Toomey said in a statement that President Donald Trump "exhausted all plausible legal options" for winning the state's 20 electoral votes.

• Toomey also accused Trump of attempting "to thwart the will of Michigan voters and select an illegitimate slate of electoral college electors."

• "I congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory," Toomey said. "They are both dedicated public servants and I will be praying for them and for our country."

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Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Saturday joined a small group of Republican lawmakers who have publicly acknowledged that President-elect Joe Biden won the 2020 election, noting that President Donald Trump has "exhausted all plausible legal options" for winning the state's 20 electoral votes.

Toomey's statement came just hours after a federal judge threw out a major Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania, denying their efforts to delay the certification of the state's election results.

Judge Matthew Brann wrote in a scathing opinion that Trump's lawyers were attempting to disenfranchise nearly 7 million voters using "strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpaid in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence."

Toomey's statement praised Brann as a "longtime conservative Republican whom I know to be a fair and unbiased jurist," and congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

"This ruling follows a series of procedural losses for President Trump's campaign," he said, noting that Georgia has already certified its results showing a Biden victory in the state, and Michigan appeared on track to do the same.

"I congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory," Toomey said. "They are both dedicated public servants and I will be praying for them and for our country."

Toomey also accused Trump of attempting "to thwart the will of Michigan voters and select an illegitimate slate of electoral college electors."

Toomey appeared to be referring to Trump's recent interactions with Michigan GOP lawmakers and canvass board members from Wayne County, amid the state's efforts to certify its election results. Biden won Michigan by approximately 155,000 votes.

On Friday, after their controversial decision to meet with Trump at the White House, two members of the Michigan state legislature's Republican leadership said they had "not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors, just as we have said throughout this election."

Beyond Toomey, Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have all congratulated Biden on his victory.

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