Raffensperger offers a more plausible explanation in a press release he issued on Thursday. He notes that Trump’s lawyers were scheduled to present evidence in one of their cases at a trial on Friday before Cobb County Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs.

“Rather than presenting their evidence and witnesses to a court and to cross-examination under oath, the Trump campaign wisely decided the smartest course was to dismiss their frivolous cases,” Raffensperger says. “Spreading disinformation about elections is dangerous and wrong. It was wrong when Stacey Abrams and her allies made false claims about Georgia’s election processes following the 2018 election and run-up to the 2020 election, and it’s wrong when the President and his allies are doing it now.”

Giuliani’s persistent promotion of baseless allegations regarding Dominion’s role in the anti-Trump plot that supposedly deprived the president of his rightful victory not only sacrificed whatever reputation he had left. It also may expose him to serious legal risk insofar as his conspiracy mongering went beyond advocacy of his client’s position in litigation. A Dominion executive already has sued Giuliani for defamation. On Friday, the company filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Powell, an erstwhile Giuliani ally who for months has been telling the same basic story.