Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit Wednesday against New York alleging in part that the lawfare trial against former President Donald Trump violated Missourians’ First Amendment right “to hear from a presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election,” as stated in a press release announcing the suit.
In a lawfare case brought by a D.A. who campaigned on taking on Trump, the former president was found guilty by a New York jury in May on 34 charges related to a crime that “nobody can quite articulate.” Following the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, Trump’s team moved to overturn his conviction, and Trump’s sentencing was delayed until Sept. 18, less than two months before Election Day. In the lawsuit, Bailey filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asking the Supreme Court to stop any further proceedings related to the New York lawfare case until after the election.
“New York has brought transparently weak charges for the transparent purpose of trying to impose political damage against Trump and trying to restrain his ability to campaign in advance of an election forecasted by the polls to be very close,” the suit alleges.
Bailey’s complaint also takes issue with a gag order placed on Trump by Judge Juan Merchan, who is a Biden donor. This order prohibited Trump from criticizing Merchan’s daughter, a Democrat political operative who, according to Bailey, stood to benefit “financially” from a Trump conviction. The order also prohibited Trump from criticizing the reliability and motivations of the witnesses involved
