New York Attorney General Letitia James urged the Supreme Court to stay out of challenge to President Donald Trump's conviction, CNN reported. This comes after Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey argued that the New York court was depriving voters in his state from hearing from the GOP candidate.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in New York's hush money case and is awaiting sentencing. Meanwhile, he is still under a gag order that prevents him from speaking about certain aspects of the case against him.
According to Bailey, who is a Republican, the gag order and conviction impede voters in his state from hearing from the GOP presidential nominee. Bailey has initiated a lawsuit against New York, which would automatically trigger a response from the Supreme Court as the mediator.
However, James countered that there is no legal basis for Bailey's challenge. The attorney general said that entertaining this legal strategy "seriously undermines the integrity of the courts and risks setting a dangerous precedent that encourages a flood of similar, unmeritorious litigation."
The conviction in New York against Trump certainly has had an impact on the campaign and could influence the outcome of the election. After all, Trump has been tied up in courtrooms during the campaign and could even serve jail time before Election Day.
However, James argued that the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Bailey's theory could become a bad precedent. "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 and the statutory limitations on this Court’s jurisdiction to review state court decisions," James wrote.
James also contended that Missouri did not have standing to sue. Bailey claimed it was the impact on voters that would justify the lawsuit, whereas James disagreed, calling the harms to voters "speculative" in nature.
"The potential sentence and speech restrictions may prove no obstacle to the interests of people who wish to hear from former President Trump," James wrote. She added that sentencing has already been delayed "and may not occur" as the conviction could be overturned in light of another Supreme Court decision in favor of Trump's presidential immunity.
The attorney general accused Bailey of "impermissibly seeking to further the individual interests of former President Trump" with this novel strategy. Notably, the gag order against Trump is still in effect as the campaign season continues.
Truth be told, the legal action against Trump is most certainly having a significant impact on voters regardless of what James and others claim. Trump is in the middle of juggling four criminal indictments against him while also running for president, according to CBS News.
This has meant time wasted in courtrooms and money wasted on legal expenses as each passing day moves the nation closer to Election Day. The gag order against Trump in New York adds an additional layer, as the former president isn't even allowed to speak out against some aspects of it.
Perhaps it can be seen as a coincidence that just as Trump was seeking the presidency again, the wheels of justice suddenly started turning against him. It's undeniable that the timing and relative flimsiness of each particular case seem to point to political motives.
Trump has denied all of the allegations lobbed against him, and he's been successful at delaying or chipping away at the cases against him. Still, there's no denying that voters have suffered the consequences of their GOP candidate under legal attack.
Even if this particular legal challenge brought on behalf of the people of Missouri doesn't hold up, it at least sheds light on a very serious issue. With Trump as a candidate for president, he and his voters deserve better than this.
