最新杏吧原创

Will Scharf, a former assistant U.S. Attorney from 最新杏吧原创, has joined Trump鈥檚 appellate team, a Trump campaign spokesperson confirmed.

The decision to join Trump鈥檚 team comes as Scharf, a Republican, is mounting a primary challenge to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in 2024. Scharf also served as policy director in former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens鈥� brief administration.

Scharf, who left the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office in the Eastern District of Missouri last year, is the first person to challenge Bailey, who was appointed to the position this year by Republican Gov. Mike Parson. His campaign has centered around his past work as a prosecutor against violent crimes.

Scharf is seeking to appeal to the right wing of the Missouri Republican Party. His association with the former president is likely to help his campaign in a state that Trump won by more than 15 percentage points in 2020.

He declined to comment to The Star, directing questions to Trump鈥檚 campaign.

Trump is appealing a narrow gag order imposed on him this week by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that bars the former president from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and court staff. Chutkan is overseeing the criminal case in the District of Columbia that accuses Trump of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

Scharf鈥檚 involvement in the D.C. case comes as Trump faces a slew of criminal charges in three other cases in New York, Florida and Georgia.

Trump鈥檚 legal team filed a notice of appeal on Tuesday. A campaign spokesperson in a statement to The Star painted the gag order as a violation of Trump鈥檚 First Amendment rights and said his team planned to file an emergency motion to stay the order.

鈥淣o court has ever imposed any such gag order on a political candidate conducting a political campaign 鈥� least of all the leading opposition candidate for President of the United States,鈥� the statement said in part.

The case centers around Trump鈥檚 efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election, which he lost, and includes accusations that he urged Republican officials to undermine the results in states that Biden won. A mob of his supporters to stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in an effort to prevent the transfer of power from Trump to Biden after the former president held a rally in Washington after months of spreading misinformation about the election results.

Two other Missouri attorneys, Dean John Sauer and Michael Talent, have also joined Trump鈥檚 appellate team.

Sauer, a former solicitor general in Missouri, entered an appearance in the case on Wednesday. He left the attorney general鈥檚 office earlier this year.

Talent, a former deputy solicitor general in Missouri who served from 2021 to 2022 and the son of former U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, has also joined the team, a Trump spokesperson confirmed.