Wednesday was a busy one for New York Attorney General Letitia James. The outspoken James built her career on pursuing Donald Trump, and she hasn't let up despite many legal scholars questioning the validity of the cases brought by her office against the former president.
James sought to bring the weight of her office to bear on the future direction of two cases yesterday. The first is a case brought by the Missouri AG, Andrew Bailey. It alleges that New York, by bringing a lawfare case against Trump, harmed Missourians' right to hear Trump speak leading up to the 2024 election. As reported by JustTheNews:
“Missouri’s suit is based entirely on an ongoing criminal case between the Manhattan DA and former President Trump and does not present an actual controversy between sovereign States,” James’s office wrote in a 48-page filing. “Moreover, former President Trump has already raised, and the New York state courts are already adjudicating, the same issues Missouri seeks to raise, and Missouri’s claims are patently meritless.”
James' position is that the case has no merit, and that it would set a dangerous precedent. She is urging the Supreme Court to block the case. On the other side, Missouri argues that Trump was essentially held captive for over six weeks during a presidential election year by the state of New York, depriving Missouri voters (and by inference, all other states' voters) from hearing a candidate speak freely.
In other legal action Wednesday, James again urged the Supremes not to interfere in her pet case, the infamous "Hush Money" case that resulted in 34 felony convictions. The case, widely derided by everyone from law professor Jonathan Turley to former NY Governor and Democrat Andrew Cuomo, is almost certain to be overturned on appeal.
Now to see whether the SCOTUS will choose to involve itself in either case in an environment where just last night, the nominal president Joe Biden announced that one of his key goals in the last months of his term would be "reform" of the Supreme Court.
