# Federal judge roster for the six-state 2020 election-litigation ledger

**Research status:** adversarial audit, last checked 2026-08-23. This memo uses the
64-proceeding universe defined by *Lost, Not Stolen*. It is a verified floor, not an exhaustive
roster of every assigned federal judge. The prior public description of this file as a “35 Federal
judges / 21 matters” reconciliation was unsupported and has been corrected to the 31-judge,
14-grouped-proceeding roster below.

## Counting rules

- A trial matter and its related appeal remain one grouped proceeding, matching the source ledger.
- Every Article III judge who signed or joined a consequential ruling is rostered separately. A
  judge is counted once globally but every participation is preserved below.
- `Adverse merits` means substantive claims or evidence were decided against the Trump side.
  `Merits-adjacent` means a threshold ruling also evaluated the merits or likelihood of success.
  `Threshold` means standing, jurisdiction, mootness, laches, or a similar gateway ruling.
  `Incidental/interim` means a temporary procedural order that was not a case-level final win.
  `Recusal` is administrative participation only.
- Unsigned clerk actions and Supreme Court certiorari or mandamus denials are not counted as a
  judge hearing or rejecting the claims. State judges are not assigned presidential provenance.
- For a judge with multiple federal commissions, the appointing president is for the office the
  judge occupied in the ruling.

## Verified central roster

| Grouped proceeding | Judge | Office appointment | Role | Classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Trump v. Wisconsin Elections Commission*, E.D. Wis. 20-1785 / 7th Cir. 20-3414 | Brett Ludwig | Trump | District disposition after merits proceeding | Adverse merits |
| same | Joel Flaum | Reagan | Appellate panel | Adverse merits affirmance |
| same | Ilana Rovner | G.H.W. Bush | Appellate panel | Adverse merits affirmance |
| same | Michael Scudder | Trump | Appellate panel; author | Adverse merits affirmance |
| *Trump for President v. Boockvar*, M.D. Pa. 20-2078 / 3d Cir. 20-3371 | Matthew Brann | Obama | District disposition | Adverse merits-adjacent |
| same | D. Brooks Smith | G.W. Bush (Third Circuit office) | Appellate panel | Adverse merits-adjacent affirmance |
| same | Michael Chagares | G.W. Bush | Appellate panel | Adverse merits-adjacent affirmance |
| same | Stephanos Bibas | Trump | Appellate panel; author | Adverse merits-adjacent affirmance |
| *Wood v. Raffensperger*, N.D. Ga. 20-4651 / 11th Cir. 20-14418 | Steven Grimberg | Trump | District ruling with alternative TRO analysis | Threshold / merits-adjacent |
| same | William Pryor | G.W. Bush | Appellate panel; author | Threshold affirmance |
| same | Jill Pryor | Obama | Appellate panel | Threshold affirmance |
| same | Barbara Lagoa | Trump | Appellate panel | Threshold affirmance |
| *Pearson v. Kemp*, N.D. Ga. 20-4809 / 11th Cir. 20-14480 | Timothy Batten | G.W. Bush | Limited data-preservation TRO, then denial of outcome-changing relief | Incidental/interim; adverse final outcome |
| same | Charles Wilson | Clinton | Appellate panel | Threshold: appellate jurisdiction |
| same | Robin Rosenbaum | Obama | Appellate panel | Threshold: appellate jurisdiction |
| same | Andrew Brasher | Trump | Appellate panel; author | Threshold: appellate jurisdiction |

Primary records: [Wisconsin district opinion](https://www.wied.uscourts.gov/sites/wied/files/documents/opinions/20-CV-1785%20Donald%20J.%20Trump%20v.%20The%20Wisconsin%20Elections%20Commission%2C%20et%20al%20%28134%29.pdf),
[Seventh Circuit opinion](https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/OpinionsWeb/processWebInputExternal.pl?Path=Y2020%2FD12-24%2FC%3A20-3414%3AJ%3AScudder%3Aaut%3AT%3AfnOp%3AN%3A2635261%3AS%3A0&Submit=Display),
[Third Circuit *Boockvar* opinion](https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/203371np.pdf),
[Eleventh Circuit *Wood* opinion](https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202014418.pdf),
and [Eleventh Circuit *Pearson* opinion](https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/202014480.pdf).
Appointment provenance is from the Federal Judicial Center's
[Biographical Directory](https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges).

## Additional verified participation

| Grouped proceeding | Judge(s) and appointing president | Classification | Primary or institutional record |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Bowyer v. Ducey*, D. Ariz. 20-2321 | Diane Humetewa (Obama) | Adverse merits / merits-adjacent | [FJC case-study index](https://www.fjc.gov/content/case-studies) |
| *Stokke v. Cegavske*, D. Nev. 20-2046 | Gloria Navarro (Obama); Andrew Gordon (Obama) | Recusal; adverse interim TRO followed by voluntary dismissal | [FJC case study](https://www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/materials/10/EE-NV-2-20-cv-2046-Stokke.pdf) |
| *Trump v. Cegavske*, D. Nev. 20-1445 | James Mahan (G.W. Bush) | Threshold dismissal | Final order still requires attachment to the publication packet |
| *King v. Whitmer*, E.D. Mich. 20-13134 | Linda Parker (Obama) | Adverse merits / justiciability | Final order still requires attachment to the publication packet |
| *Feehan v. Wisconsin Elections Commission*, E.D. Wis. 20-1771 | Pamela Pepper (Obama) | Threshold dismissal | [FJC case study](https://www.fjc.gov/content/375553/unsuccessful-efforts-enjoin-certification-2020-presidential-election-results) |
| *Donald J. Trump for President v. Boockvar*, W.D. Pa. 20-966 | J. Nicholas Ranjan (Trump) | Pre-election merits and standing disposition | [Docketed opinion, Doc. 574](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/pennsylvania/pawdce/2%3A2020cv00966/268736/574/) |
| *Bognet v. Boockvar*, W.D. Pa. 20-215 / 3d Cir. 20-3214 | Kim Gibson (G.W. Bush); D. Brooks Smith (G.W. Bush); Patty Shwartz (Obama); Anthony Scirica (Reagan) | Merits-adjacent denial and affirmance | [Third Circuit opinion](https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/203214p.pdf) |
| *Wood v. Raffensperger*, N.D. Ga. 20-5155 / 11th Cir. 20-14813 | Timothy Batten (G.W. Bush); Beverly Martin (Obama); Adalberto Jordan (Obama); Britt Grant (Trump) | Threshold dismissal and affirmance | [Eleventh Circuit opinion](https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/files/202014813.pdf) |
| *Trump v. Kemp*, N.D. Ga. 20-5310 | Mark Cohen (Obama) | Adverse immediate-relief ruling | [FJC case study](https://www.fjc.gov/node/6548716) |
| *Brooks v. Mahoney*, S.D. Ga. 20-281 | R. Stan Baker (Trump) | Routine termination after plaintiffs' voluntary dismissal | [Docket entry for Docs. 20–21](https://dockets.justia.com/docket/georgia/gasdce/4%3A2020cv00281/82897) |

## Findings and corrections

The current election-litigation memo misidentifies two panels. Seventh Circuit No. 20-3414 was
Flaum, Rovner, and Scudder—not Scudder and Amy St. Eve. Eleventh Circuit No. 20-14418 was William
Pryor, Jill Pryor, and Lagoa—not Britt Grant and Robert Luck.

Across the four central grouped proceedings, **six unique Trump appointees** are directly verified
as participating in adverse outcome-related rulings: Ludwig, Scudder, Bibas, Grimberg, Lagoa, and
Brasher. This is a floor, not an exhaustive number. They were not all merits adjudicators: *Wood*
was principally threshold litigation, and the *Pearson* appeal concerned appellate jurisdiction.

No Democratic-appointed federal judge produced a case-level Trump-side win in this 64-proceeding
ledger. The sole favorable final disposition occurred in Pennsylvania state court and concerned 270
provisional ballots in a state-senate contest. Batten's narrow preservation TRO in *Pearson* was an
interim order, not a final election-result victory.

## Adversarial publication audit

The audit found three defects in the prior public Case 014 language:

- The tables now identify **31 unique Article III judges across 14 grouped proceedings**, not 35
  judges across 21 matters. Nine are Trump appointees: Baker, Bibas, Brasher, Grant, Grimberg,
  Lagoa, Ludwig, Ranjan, and Scudder. The arithmetic “nine” is therefore reproducible, but the
  claimed complete 35-judge/21-matter reconciliation is not.
- Eight of those nine took a consequential action adverse to requested election relief. Baker only
  terminated *Brooks* after the plaintiffs filed their voluntary dismissal. That distinction is
  supported by the docket entries and must remain in any public count.
- The source universe is not exclusively post-election litigation. *Donald J. Trump for President
  v. Boockvar*, W.D. Pa. 20-966, was filed before Election Day and produced consequential rulings
  before Election Day. The underlying report itself discusses “pre-election challenges to changed
  voting procedures.” The litigation memo's inclusion rule saying all 64 were “filed in the
  post-election contest period” is therefore false.
- *Lost, Not Stolen* expressly reports 20 pre-merits dismissals, 14 voluntary dismissals, and 30
  matters with a merits hearing, with one favorable Pennsylvania disposition. Those figures are
  accurately attributed as that report's bounded methodology. They are not an independently
  completed 64-row primary-source reconciliation in this repository.
- The one favorable disposition concerned a state-senate candidate's challenge to 270 provisional
  ballots. It was not a presidential-election victory. Calling it the “Trump side's” win is safe
  only when clearly attributed to the report's broad “Trump and supporters” universe; it should not
  be described as a Trump campaign win.

### Exact public corrections required

Until the missing rows and orders are added, replace “Our reconciliation ... found nine” with:

> In the bounded 64-proceeding review, our partial federal roster verifies nine Trump-appointed
> judges. Eight took consequential action adverse to requested election relief; one only closed a
> voluntarily dismissed case. The roster is not yet an exhaustive count of every federal judge.

Replace the Receipt 007 label “35 Federal judges and appointment provenance / 21 matters” with:

> Partial federal-judge roster and appointment provenance / 31 judges across 14 grouped proceedings

Do not describe the 64 matters as all post-election filings. The safe formulation is:

> A disclosed review counted 64 proceedings concerning the presidential result or election
> administration in six battleground states; its universe includes some litigation filed before
> Election Day and groups related appeals under its own disclosed methodology.

**Review-ready decision after author correction:** Case 014 now uses the bounded-universe warning,
the 31-judge/14-grouped-proceeding label, and the nine/eight/one Trump-appointee distinction. Those
changes close this audit finding without claiming that the partial roster is exhaustive.

## Evidence ceiling

An exhaustive unique-judge count requires exporting all 64 addendum rows, attaching every federal
final and consequential interim order, and recording each appellate panel. The source report groups
appeals and often omits judge names; several state records have also migrated. Voluntarily dismissed
federal cases should not add their merely assigned judges unless a consequential judicial act is
identified. Until that reconciliation is complete, the safe claim is **nine identified
Trump-appointed judges in this partial roster, eight with consequential adverse participation**, not
an independently exhaustive partisan count.