Missouri’s attorney general announced Thursday that he is suing the state of New York for alleged wrongful prosecution and election interference in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial.
A New York jury found Trump guilty on each of the 34 felony counts of falsifying business records he faced in May, making him the first American president to be convicted of a crime. After leaving the courthouse that day, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee said the trial was “rigged” by a “corrupt” and “conflicted” judge, igniting responses from a flurry of his Republican comrades promising vengeance on the justice system.
One such comrade is Andrew Bailey, Missouri’s Republican attorney general appointed by the state’s governor last year. In announcing his lawsuit in a post on X, Bailey called the case against Trump a “direct attack on our democratic process through unconstitutional lawfare.”
“We have to fight back against a rogue prosecutor who is trying to take a presidential candidate off the campaign trail. It sabotages Missourians’ right to a free and fair election,” Bailey wrote.
🚨BREAKING: I will be filing suit against the State of New York for their direct attack on our democratic process through unconstitutional lawfare against President Trump.
It’s time to restore the rule of law.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) June 21, 2024
In an interview with Fox News, Bailey didn’t specify whether new evidence will be uncovered to support his stance, but he alleged Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against Trump, and Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo, who delivered opening statements in the trial and formerly worked in the Biden administration, had self-interests in the case that amount to election interference.
This rhetoric is one often repeated in the Republican camp, despite there being no evidence to suggest the two should have been disqualified from the case due to their political interests.
And the rhetoric has appeared to be harmful at that, according to a filing Friday from Bragg’s office signed by Colangelo. The filing states there have been dozens of “actionable threats” directed against the attorney general, his family and staff since April, including a post “showing sniper shots” on those people, the disclosure of an office employee’s home address, bomb threats on the residences of two people involved in the case and nearly 500 emails and phone calls requiring security review.
Bragg’s office cited these threats as reasons to stay Trump’s gag order. The order bars the former president from making statements on prosecutors (other than Bragg), jurors, witnesses, and court staff. The defense has argued the order should be lifted so that Trump can fully address the case on the campaign trail.
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