SCOTUS Rules Against Move to Nix Trump Gag Order

High court rebuffs Missouri AG's argument that gag order in NY hush-money case would stifle Trump
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 6, 2024 9:20 AM CDT
SCOTUS Squashes Missouri's Bid to Nix Trump Gag Order
The Supreme Court Building is seen July 1 in Washington.   (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

The Supreme Court on Monday shut down a long-shot push from Missouri to remove a gag order in former President Trump's hush-money case and delay his sentencing in New York. The Missouri attorney general went to the high court with the unusual request to sue New York after the justices granted Trump broad immunity from prosecution in a separate case in Washington. The order states that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have allowed Republican Andrew Bailey to file the suit, though not grant his push to quickly lift the gag order and delay sentencing, per the AP. Bailey argued the New York gag order, which Missouri wanted stayed until after the election, wrongly limits what the GOP presidential nominee can say on the campaign trail, and Trump's eventual sentence could affect his ability to travel.

"The actions by New York have created constitutional harms that threaten to infringe the rights of Missouri's voters and electors," Bailey wrote. He railed against the charges as politically motivated while framing the issue as a conflict between two states. Although the Supreme Court typically hears appeals, it can act as a trial court in state conflicts. Those disputes, though, typically deal with shared borders or rivers that cross state lines. New York, meanwhile, said the limited gag order does allow Trump to talk about issues important to voters, and the sentence may not affect his movement at all. Democratic New York AG Letitia James argued that appeals are moving through state courts and that there's no state-on-state conflict that would allow the Supreme Court to weigh in at this point.

"Allowing Missouri to file this suit for such relief against New York would permit an extraordinary and dangerous end run around former President Trump's ongoing state court proceedings," James wrote. Trump is under a gag order imposed at trial after prosecutors raised concerns about Trump's habit of attacking people involved in his cases. It was modified after his conviction, though, to allow him to comment publicly about witnesses and jurors.

(More US Supreme Court stories.)

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