Supreme Court rejects Missouri lawsuit to block Trump’s sentencing and gag order in New York hush money case

CNN —

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort by Missouri’s Republican attorney general to lift a gag order and delay the sentencing of former President Donald Trump following his conviction in the New York hush money case.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey attempted to file the longshot suit against New York in early July, claiming in part that the gag order violated the First Amendment rights of voters in his state to hear Trump speak.

But the case was widely viewed as unlikely to gain traction at the Supreme Court in part because of the sweeping implications of allowing a state to intervene in a pending criminal case unfolding in a different state.

“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,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, argued in written briefs.

The Supreme Court rejected the suit without comment.

But conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who have previously suggested that the court is required to take such original jurisdiction cases, said they would have allowed the lawsuit itself to continue.

A Manhattan jury convicted Trump in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. A limited gag order bars Trump from speaking publicly about prosecutors, court staff and their families at least until Trump is sentenced.

The Supreme Court has what’s known as “original jurisdiction” in cases involving one state suing another, which means the high court is the first to review the suit. Such cases are relatively rare and usually involve technical issues.