Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, is asking the Supreme Court to toss out former President Donald Trump’s gag order following the high court’s decision on presidential immunity.
Bailey is looking to insert Missouri into the former president’s New York criminal trial by claiming that Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the case, interfered with Trump’s ability to campaign freely. Trump was prevented from talking about the witnesses, jurors, and families of the judge and Manhattan prosecutors, but Merchan lifted parts of the gag order recently to allow Trump to speak freely about witnesses such as Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.
“When President Trump is tethered to a courtroom in New York due to a rogue prosecutor in a collusive judiciary, then Missourians are denied access to that candidate,” Bailey told Axios. “Our First Amendment right to hear from that candidate was additionally violated by the gag order that was put in place.”
The lawsuit is framed as a dispute between two states, Missouri and New York, on the basis of an infraction on Trump’s right to free speech.
Bailey is also looking for the Supreme Court to rule that Trump’s sentencing date be moved until after the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Trump was set to be sentenced for being found guilty of 34 felonies next week, just days before the Republican National Convention. Merchan moved the date to Sept. 18 after Trump’s legal team filed a motion to overturn the conviction following the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
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The Supreme Court ruled Monday that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for official acts while in office, but they can still be prosecuted for unofficial acts.
It is unclear at this time whether the high court will take up the case.
