GOP nominee blasted as a ‘fascist’ for involving Missouri in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago defense

Republican efforts to defend Donald Trump after the FBI executed a search warrant in Mar-a-Lago have become an issue in the open U.S. Senate race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Roy Blunt.

After U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruce Reinhart authorized the search warrant in West Palm Beach, the former president's legal team appealed to Trump-appointed District Judge Aileen Cannon. After she ruled to appoint Special Master Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn, The DOJ appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

And that's how Missouri got involved — by way of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

"Paxton, a Trump ally who has joined the former president in falsely claiming the 2020 election was marred by widespread voter fraud, filed a friend of the court brief in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He argued the government under President Joe Biden cannot be trusted to act appropriately in the case involving Trump," The Texas Tribune reported. "Paxton alleged, in a meandering nine-page argument, that the Biden administration has acted unethically in several cases. Those instances were largely policy differences, such as attempting to put in place a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate, ending Trump-era immigration rules and extending a moratorium on evictions during the pandemic."

Paxton's brief was submitted on behalf of GOP attorneys general in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia.

But it is only Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt who is in a major Senate race as he faces off against Anheuser-Busch beer-heiress Trudy Busch Valentine.

"Schmitt’s decision to involve Missouri in the court fight between the former president and DOJ is the latest example of the Republican attorney general diving into cases that appeal to the conservative base as he mounts a campaign for U.S. Senate," the Kansas City Starreported. "The brief was led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, which previously spearheaded a failed effort to overturn the 2020 election that Schmitt supported."

The newspaper interviewed state Rep. Ian Mackey, a St. Louis Democrat.

“Of course it’s politically motivated,” he said. “Am I surprised that the fascist attorney general that helped fund the insurrection through the Republican Attorneys General Association would be taking Donald Trump’s side on this issue? Of course not.”

The Republican Attorneys General Association spent money organizing turnout for Jan. 6.

“He’s not the suburban St. Louis lawyer he used to be. He’s not a fair and impartial attorney general. He’s fully on board 1,000% with the insurrection,” Mackey argued.

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