Excessive scrutiny and dozens of recent court decisions suggest that the 2020 general election was not only fair but the most secure ever.

Republican judges and key appointees of President Donald Trump agree that there’s no proof of widespread fraud. Even Trump’s hand-picked attorney general, William Barr, said Tuesday that the Department of Justice has not yet found any sign of impropriety that would overturn the results of the election.

Republican Christopher Krebs, who led the federal government’s election cybersecurity efforts and was appointed by Trump, concluded that there should be no doubt whatsoever. Biden won in a clean election.

Krebs is highly respected by both Republicans and Democrats and reportedly takes his job seriously.

“The Nov. 3 election was the most secure in American history,” concluded his Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council.

“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised.” ?

Despite his honesty and diligence, Krebs was immediately and unceremoniously fired by Trump, who did it through an undignified pronouncement on Twitter.

With Krebs out of the way, Trump continues to promote false theories.

But judges - including Republican judges - aren’t buying it.

A Pennsylvania federal appeals court panel - all Republicans - soundly rejected Trump’s attempt to throw out millions of Pennsylvania ballots and instead hand the victory to the wrong person.

The panel found the idea “breathtaking” and unsupported by evidence.

“Voters, not lawyers, choose the president. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections,” said Judge Stephanos Bibas, himself appointed by Trump.

Bibas pointed out that the Trump campaign questioned so few ballots that even if the claims were true, it would have no effect on President-Elect Joe Biden’s 81,000-vote lead.

Similar scenarios are playing out across the country. Trump & company are presenting plenty of complaints but no evidence of widespread fraud.

So far, Trump has lost 38 out of 39 court challenges, many decided by GOP judges.

Some of the legal antics have bordered on absurdity. An allegation put forth by former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell alleged possible voter fraud in Edison County, Michigan. Problem is, there is no such place as Edison County in Michigan. It doesn’t exist.

Of course, that’s not to say there weren’t election-related improprieties. Democrats point to attempts of voting suppression.

For example, Trump tried to defund and sabotage the U.S. Postal Service and admitted to the media he did so to discourage mail voting during the pandemic. Mail votes, he said, couldn’t be trusted. And they’d favor Democrats.

He hired wealthy Republican donor Louis DeJoy as postmaster general, who embarked on a plan of slowing down mail delivery.

DeJoy limited overtime for postal carriers, cracked down on late trips to deliver mail, dismantled sorting machines and froze hiring. The strategy didn’t work.

Trump’s campaign even tried to sue the state of Nevada in an attempt to invalidate state law providing for mail voting. By contrast, he gave his blessing to mail-in ballots in Florida because “Florida’s got a great Republican governor,” he said.

It appears Biden captured 80 million votes and won the election by up to 8 million, a commanding victory and clear mandate.

Compare this to the 2016 election in which Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million but still lost the election due to the Electoral College.

One can only imagine the turmoil that would have ensued if something like that had happened this time around.

Pennsylvania’s Third Circuit Court of Appeals summed up Trump’s situation: “Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. … But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”

Ultimately, Trump intends to keep filing lawsuits, although the end is near.

His strategy, apparently, is to throw everything at the courts until something not only sticks, but rises to the level of the U.S. Supreme Court.

There, he hopes he’s packed enough support from his appointed judges to overturn what others are calling a fair election decided by American voters.

But legal eagles say it’s doubtful the Supremes would take such a case. And even if they did, they, too, would want to see proof.

By Donald R. Serfass | tneditor@tnonline.com