ST. LOUIS—Since launching his bid for Missouri Attorney General last January, Will Scharf, a former policy advisor to then-Gov. Eric Greitens and later a federal prosecutor, has been a frequent presence in conservative media circles, criticizing the Justice Department over its handling of cases involving former President Donald Trump and Hunter Biden.
That advocacy went up a notch in October when Scharf, who played a role behind the scenes to advance the nominations of Trump Supreme Court appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, joined the former president’s legal team to appeal a District of Columbia federal court judge’s gag order in Trump’s election interference case.
It’s about to go up again, as Scharf, former Missouri Solicitor General John Sauer and Michael Talent, a former Missouri Deputy Solicitor General and son of the former U.S. Senator, have been tapped to handle appellate matters involving the former President.
“I think Missourians are outraged by this campaign of lawfare that’s being waged against President Trump and getting around the state, speaking to people, speaking to my supporters, they’re excited that I’m a part of this effort and we’re going to keep on fighting,” Scharf, who will face Attorney General Andrew Bailey in the August GOP primary. Bailey was appointed to the job to succeed Eric Schmitt following Schmitt’s election to the U.S. Senate.
The primary clearly features two pro-Trump candidates. Bailey has endorsed the former president’s campaign and has continued the litigation filed by Schmitt alleging the federal government violated free speech rights on social media in a case that will reach the Supreme Court in 2024. Bailey has signed on to amicus briefs targeting Biden administration policies and also joined, with more than a dozen other Attorneys General in a brief filed opposing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s move to have the Supreme Court decide the question of presidential immunity from prosecution.
“We're very happy to have Attorney General Marshall's support,” Scharf said Thursday of the Alabama Attorney General who led the brief. "It's great to see Republicans around the country joining us in support of these important constitutional and legal issues.”
Political candidates are rarely fully unemployed. They run for office while holding other offices, or while having a private sector position all the time. But with a D.C. court date looming in early January and more to follow, Scharf acknowledged that he’ll be busy with his “day job” over the holidays. There will still be time for the campaign.
“I’m going to be spending some time over the next few days…we have a few briefs due, we have a lot of legal work to be done,” he said. “This is very much going to be a working holiday season for me, but yeah, once we hit January we’ll be hard at it on the campaign trail,” he said.
Elad Gross is the only declared candidate on the Democratic side of the race. State Rep. Sarah Unsicker announced last week that she was dropping out of the race and would declare her political future plans next month.