Supreme Court rejects request to push Trump's sentencing past election

By 
 August 6, 2024

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on September 18 following his conviction for falsifying business records.

While Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey sought to have Trump's sentencing pushed, the Supreme Court decided otherwise. 

Other red state attorney generals joined suit

According to Reuters, Bailey filed a lawsuit against New York last month in which he argued that the former president should not be sentenced until after voters go to the polls in November.

"Instead of letting presidential candidates campaign on their own merits, radical progressives in New York are trying to rig the 2024 election by waging a direct attack on our democratic process," his lawsuit read.

The Missouri attorney general went on to argue that residents in his state were at risk of losing the right to "hear from and vote for their preferred presidential candidate."

Bailey was not alone in making that case as his fellow Republican attorneys general from Florida, Iowa, Montana and Alaska joined him by submitting a brief.

Trump's lawyers want judge to recuse himself

While the Constitution stipulates that the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over lawsuits between states, America's highest judicial body announced on Monday that it would not hear Bailey's lawsuit.

Although the Supreme Court's order was left unsigned, conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito indicated that they would have taken the case.

Monday's ruling wasn't the only time Trump's New York criminal case recently made the news as his lawyers are once again pushing to have presiding Judge Juan Merchan recuse himself.

As The Hill reported, attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil sent a pre-motion letter to Merchan in which they stressed that his "daughter has a long-standing relationship with Harris, including work for political campaigns."

Judge's daughter raised over $93 million for Democrats off of Trump's case

"She has obtained — and stands to obtain in the future — extensive financial, professional, and personal benefits from her relationship with Harris," it further stressed.

The New York Post pointed out earlier this year that Loren Merchan serves as chief operating officer and president of Authentic Campaigns, a Democrat-aligned political consulting firm. 

What's more, Ms. Merchan has used the former president's criminal trial to raise at least $93 million for many of the president's Democratic critics.

In addition to Harris, Authentic Campaigns has also worked for President Joe Biden, Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek, and California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson