SC turns away Missouri’s longshot bid at halting Trump’s sentencing, gag order in hush money case

WASHINGTON, DC: The Supreme Court on Monday, August 5, declined to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Missouri Attorney General attempting to block legal proceedings in former president Donald Trump's hush money case in New York.

In an order, justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito turned away Missouri AG Andrew Bailey's attempt to go straight to the high court by invoking its exclusive, original jurisdiction over disputes between two states.

Supreme Court rejects Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's bid to sue New York

The court rejected Missouri's Attorney General Andrew Bailey's bid to sue the state of New York, which means the justices will not lift the gag order or delay sentencing in the unusual claim brought by Bailey, a Republican who is running for a full term this fall.

Bailey claimed in his filing that the gag order and a potential sentence prevented Missouri voters from hearing relevant information from a presidential candidate amid the campaign.

Bailey took the rare step of trying to sue the state of New York before the Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over disputes between states.

Usually, such disputes involve issues like water rights over rivers that cross state lines, noted NBC News.

It would have been highly unusual for the Supreme Court to allow a state to interfere with judicial proceedings in another state, it added.

New York Attorney General Letitia James forced to defend Donald Trump's prosecution

By suing the state directly, Andrew Bailey’s suit forced New York Attorney General Letitia James to defend Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of the former president.

James’ office told the justices to turn away the suit, criticizing it for containing “bare assertions of bad faith” and arguing it wasn’t an actual controversy between two states as per The Hill.

James said there was no basis for the Supreme Court to get involved, saying that the complaint "consists of generalized and speculative grievances."

She said Trump "already can speak about all of the topics" the state says voters might want to hear about. James added that Bailey "is clearly and impermissibly seeking to further the individual interests of former President Trump."

Internet reactions to Missouri's longshot bid to block Trumps sentensing

Donald Trump was convicted in May on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money deal during his 2016 campaign, marking the first-ever criminal conviction of a former US president.

“It’s disappointing that the Supreme Court refused to exercise its constitutional responsibility to resolve state v. state disputes,” Bailey wrote on X (formerly Twitter), vowing to continue to “prosecute our lawsuit.”

"I will continue to prosecute our lawsuit against @KamalaHarris @JoeBiden’s DOJ for coordinating the illicit prosecutions against President Trump," he added. 

"There needs to be a better punishment for bringing frivolous lawsuits," wrote one on Facebook.

Another commented, "Unbelievable that the AG from another state would do that. He should be immediately disbarred."

"Talk about a long shot! Lol." Another said, "Publicity stunt, more wasted taxpayers money by the republican," said someone else.

"Shut up Andrew" remarked one, while another comment read "Keep after them AG Bailey. You make me proud to be from Missouri."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.