KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in New York until after the November election.

The extraordinary request comes as Bailey, a Republican, is embroiled in a highly competitive primary race against Will Scharf, a member of Trump’s legal team who helped secure a sweeping, historic Supreme Court decision earlier this week that Trump enjoys substantial immunity from criminal prosecution.

Bailey’s filing with the Supreme Court targets Trump’s upcoming sentencing after a New York jury in May found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star.

Trump’s sentencing, scheduled for July, has already been delayed until at least September as the court assesses the potential consequences of the immunity ruling. Bailey goes further, claiming that sentencing Trump before the election would interfere with his ability to campaign for president.

“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,” Bailey said in a statement.

Bailey and Scharf, a former federal prosecutor, have both taken aggressive steps to align themselves with Trump and cast themselves as the best defender of the former president. The race has increasingly centered on Trump as the legal developments surrounding the former president have accelerated in recent weeks.

Scharf declined to comment on Bailey’s filing.

Elad Gross, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, said in a statement that Bailey was “desperate for attention.”

“It’s sad to see our money repeatedly flushed down the toilet while Andrew Bailey can’t manage the basic functions of his office to sue scammers, protect families, and stop wasteful spending,” said Gross, a St. Louis civil rights attorney.

Bailey’s legal filing alleges that the state of New York violated federal laws in its prosecution and conviction of the former president. The 99-page filing includes a summary of the prosecution of Trump and echoes arguments from Republicans who have cast the charges as an attempt by the Democratic Party and President Joe Biden to weaken Trump’s bid for president.

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