JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced today that he has filed an amicus brief calling on the courts to reverse the unconstitutional gag order against President Donald J. Trump. In a blatant violation of the First Amendment, the gag order stifles President Trump’s ability to speak freely ahead of the approaching presidential election and denies Americans the right to hear free, fair and open debate from all presidential candidates.
“Missouri is a champion for free speech. President Trump, like so many Americans, has been silenced on social media platforms for daring to be a political opponent of Joe Biden, and now they’re attempting to silence his right to speak at all,” said Attorney General Bailey. “This blatant weaponization of the criminal justice system is inherently un-American and goes against the very soul of our great nation. I’m proud to stand with President Trump in this new front in the war for free speech.”
In the brief, General Bailey and the other states assert, “President Trump is actively campaigning for—is the leading Republican candidate for—the presidency. The district court’s broad order interrupts President Trump’s right to ‘communicat[e] with the electorate.’ This case—the propriety of bringing it, the motives for doing so, and the process the Biden Administration continues to employ in pursuing it—is a central issue in his reelection campaign. And rather than protect President Trump’s ability to discuss that issue on the campaign trail, the district court’s prior restraint muzzles him.”
Attorney General Bailey and the other states conclude, “Given the magnitude—in importance and effect—of such an overly broad and vague prior restraint on President Trump’s speech, this Court should reverse” the gag order, and immediately reinstate the President’s right to free speech.
Attorney General Bailey has been a staunch defender of the free speech rights of all Americans. His landmark free speech case, Missouri v. Biden, which exposes the vast censorship enterprise emanating from the White House and across a spectrum of federal agencies, will be heard by the nation’s highest court early next year.
Joining Missouri in filing the brief are Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
The full brief can be read here.