by WorldTribune Staff, July 4, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
New York engaged in election interference by launching a “lawfare” operation against former President Donald Trump which deprived citizens of Missouri their First Amendment right to hear from the 2024 GOP presidential candidate, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in filing a lawsuit against the state of New York.
Bailey’s lawsuit alleges New York’s “illicit prosecution, gag order, and sentencing” of Trump has undermined his ability to campaign for president, sabotaging Missourians’ ability to hear from him and cast a fully informed vote for a presidential candidate mere months before the election.
“This lawfare is poisonous to American democracy,” Bailey said. “The American people ought to be able to participate in a presidential election free from New York’s interference. Any gag order and sentence should be stayed until after the election.”
The Republican AG’s lawsuit petitions the Supreme Court to declare that New York’s restrictions on Trump’s ability to campaign amount to an unlawful interfere with the presidential election.
The lawsuit asks the top court to remove any gag orders against Trump and to halt his pending sentencing until after the November election.
“Right now, Missouri has a huge problem with New York. Instead of letting presidential candidates campaign on their own merit, radical progressives in New York are trying to rig the 2024 election by waging a direct attack on our democratic process,” said Bailey.
“I will not sit idly by while Soros-backed prosecutors hold Missouri voters hostage in this presidential election. I am filing suit to ensure every Missourian can exercise their right to hear from and vote for their preferred presidential candidate.”
The lawsuit alleges three specific violations, including interference with the presidential election in other states, violation of the First Amendment, and the unlawful change of election rules in the months leading up to an election.
Following Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed to postpone Trump’s sentencing until September.
In the lawsuit, Bailey lays out the timeline of how Bragg brought charges against Trump, alleging he did it to boost Joe Biden’s campaign and keep Trump out of the White House.
Bailey noted Bragg was previously involved in a lawsuit against Trump while working for the New York Attorney General’s Office and then campaigned for his current position by promising to use that experience to prosecute Trump.
Additionally, Bailey pointed out that Bragg hired the third highest-ranking member from Biden’s Department of Justice, Matthew Colangelo, to lead the prosecution against Biden’s political opponent.
Bailey’s lawsuit also alleges Judge Juan Merchan, the judge overseeing Trump’s New York criminal trial, violated state judicial ethics rules by donating to the Biden campaign.
Bailey called it “reprehensible lawfare” against the former president.