Trump campaign distances itself from attorney Sidney Powell: Transition updates

Two more Pennsylvania legal challenges by President Donald Trump's campaign appear to have failed, insuring that more than 2,700 ballots that had been contested over technicalities would, in fact, be counted.

One case, filed in the Philadelphia suburb of Bucks County, sought to toss out 2,177 ballots over missing words on the address line or improperly sealed secrecy envelopes. A similar challenge brought in neighboring Montgomery County was ordered closed by the court.

In dismissing the Bucks County lawsuit, Judge Robert O. Baldi said it would be "an injustice to disenfranchise these voters" based on the technical errors with the ballots. Baldi noted repeatedly that the Trump team "specifically stipulated" that "there exists no evidence of any fraud, misconduct, or any impropriety with respect to the challenged ballots."

"There is nothing in the record and nothing alleged that would lead to the conclusion that any of the challenged ballots were submitted by someone not qualified or entitled to vote in this election," Judge Baldi writes.

The point took on added significance as the Trump legal team, and the president himself, have continued to allege fraud on social media and in press appearances -- but not as stridently in court where evidence is required to support the claim.

Eliza Sweren-Becker, counsel for the Democracy Program at the bipartisan Brennan Center for Justice, told ABC News that suits like these appear aimed at grabbing attention.

"In large part, this litigation, the other cases that the campaign has filed are really a distraction," Sweren-Becker said. "It's important to recognize the frivolous nature of these suits." 

Some of the reasons the Trump team argued would disqualify ballots involved mail-in ballots from voters who left off part of their address or failed to secure properly the secrecy envelope, among other concerns the judge cited as minor.

"The minor irregularity of a lack of a complete handwritten name or address is not necessary to prevent fraud and there would be no other significant interest undermined by allowing these ballots to be counted," he wrote.

-ABC News' Alex Hosenball and Matthew Mosk

Biden took questions following remarks on his efforts to work with governors to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and addressed the Trump administration's stonewalling by not recognizing him as the president-elect. 

Asked by ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce what the American people are witnessing as Trump continues to fight election results with legal battles, Biden paused for a moment before deeming it "totally irresponsible."

“Let me choose my words here,” he said. “I think they're witnessing incredible irresponsibility. Incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions. And I think it is -- well, I don't know his motive, but I just think it's totally irresponsible.”

Bruce followed up with whether Biden was concerned the American people might, in turn, question the legitimacy of his administration, but Biden said he wasn't, arguing polling has shown the vast majority of Americans believe in the legitimacy of the election.

However, a recent Monmouth poll found that only 18% of Republican-identifying respondents said they felt Biden won fair and square, while 70% said they felt he won due to voter fraud.

“Most of the Republicans I've spoken to, including some of the governors, think this is debilitating. It sends a horrible message about who we are as a country,” Biden said.

The president-elect said his team has not ruled out legal action against the General Services Administration, but argued that would take a lot of time that he instead hopes to spend building consensus.

Biden weighed in on Trump inviting members of the Michigan state legislature to the White House Friday as the president seeks to overturn results in the state, questioning the legality of the meeting.

“It's going to be another incident where he will go down in history as being one of the most irresponsible presidents in American history," Biden said. "It's just out of the -- not even within the norm at all. There's questions whether it's even legal. But it's going to be interesting to see who shows up in this call to meet with the leadership."

He also revealed that he and his team have decided who will serve as the treasury secretary and said it would be announced just before or after Thanksgiving, adding that it will be someone who will be accepted across the Democratic Party.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle, John Verhovek, Averi Harper and Beatrice Peterson

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris kicked off her and Biden's afternoon remarks by outlining the call they had with the National Governors Association’s Executive Committee, saying the bipartisan group of governors focused on COVID-19 and how to make testing and vaccines free and accessible to the public.

Drawing from her experience in local and state government, Harris said she appreciates the critical role governors play in American life and assured them that they’ll have “partners in the White House starting on Jan. 20."

“President-Elect Biden and I will make sure you have the resources and support you need to save lives and help get our economy back on track. And we will also make sure that our federal state, local and tribal authorities are working closely together so we can tackle these challenges as effectively as possible,” Harris said, before introducing the president-elect. 

Biden began by saying all of the governors on his call, five Democrats and five Republicans, recognized his win -- even if the Trump administration still refuses to, thus hindering his access to pandemic planning.

“Each of the governors emphasized that we might be Democrats and Republicans, but we're all American first. They congratulated us heartily for the -- our win,” Biden said. 

Biden said the group discussed a nationwide mask mandate, a practice he has pushed and asked governors to work on him with, before later reinforcing that he would not impose a total national shutdown.

A Biden transition official confirms the president-elect is meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday in Wilmington, Delaware.

It's their first in-person meeting since the election.

The three spoke over the phone last week and discussed how to pass another COVID-19 relief bill to help Americans struggling amid the pandemic.

-ABC News' Mary Bruce