WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Monday a request by Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey to delay sentencing of former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s conviction in New York over past payments to porn star Stephanie “Stormy Daniels” Clifford, setting the stage for legal penalties to potentially complicate Trump’s intended return to the White House.
In May, a New York jury convicted Trump on 34 counts of allegedly falsifying business records pertaining to a $130,000 payment to Daniels arranged by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen in October 2016, ostensibly for her to keep quiet about an extramarital affair Trump contends never happened, as well as a related $420,000 Trump paid to Cohen.
Left-wing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump over that payment in March 2023, claiming the $130,000 was a campaign expenditure not recorded as such in payments to Cohen listed as “legal expenses” in 2017. Many observers have faulted the prosecution and conviction as politically motivated contortions of both the law and the facts of the case.
Originally slated for July, sentencing was delayed until September 18 to give Trump more time to appeal the conviction. In the meantime, Bailey’s office filed a motion to have the date moved again to after the election, arguing the case interfered with Trump’s ability to campaign, such as his ability to present his side of the story to voters.
The Supreme Court rejected Bailey’s bid without elaboration, USA Today reported. The order noted that conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have at least permitted Missouri’s lawsuit to be filed, but did not confirm whether they would have ultimately ruled in its favor.
Bailey expressed disappointment that the nation’s highest court “refused to exercise its constitutional responsibility to resolve state v. state disputes,” arguing that Missouri had a legitimate interest in ensuring that another state cannot “hijack our national election.” He vowed that his office’s legal challenges to the federal government’s prosecutions of Trump were not over.
It’s disappointing that the Supreme Court refused to exercise its constitutional responsibility to resolve state v. state disputes.
I will continue to prosecute our lawsuit against @KamalaHarris @JoeBiden’s DOJ for coordinating the illicit prosecutions against President Trump
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) August 5, 2024
New York is working to hijack our national election and jail President Trump. Missourians absolutely have an interest in ensuring that does not happen.
The fight is not over.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) August 5, 2024
In the New York case, Trump could theoretically face fines, probation, or potentially up to four years in prison, although many consider jail time unlikely due to the politically explosive nature of such a move in the final months of an election.
National polling aggregations by RealClearPolitics and RaceToTheWH currently indicate that Vice President Kamala Harris has narrowly overtaken Trump in both national polling and Electoral College projections since replacing incumbent President Joe Biden as Democrats’ presumptive nominee, although her Tuesday selection of far-left Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate could swing the race back in Trump’s favor.