Lawyers for TV pastor Jim Bakker filed court papers Monday stating Bakker’s religious freedoms have been violated and urging a judge to dismiss a lawsuit against the well-known minister and his ministry.

The lawsuit filed in March by Missouri’s Attorney General Eric Schmitt alleges Bakker made false claims about a “Silver Solution” health supplement on an episode of The Jim Bakker Show in February. The complaint alleges Bakker and Morningside Church Productions made “false promises” that the Silver Solution -- offered by the ministry -- could cure COVID-19. Bakker and Morningside strongly deny the allegations.

“Jim Bakker is being unfairly targeted by those who want to crush his ministry and force his Christian television program off the air,” says Jay Nixon, Bakker’s attorney and former Governor and Attorney General of Missouri. “The video recording of The Jim Bakker Show clearly shows the allegations are false. Bakker did not claim or state that Silver Solution was a cure for COVID-19. This case is about religious freedom.”

The motion to dismiss filed at the Circuit Court of Stone County, Missouri, states that the Attorney General’s lawsuit -- seeking a restraining order, permanent injunction and other penalties against Bakker -- violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guaranteeing free speech, as well as the Missouri Constitution and the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Nixon described the complaint against Bakker and his ministry as “unprecedented” and disappointing.

“Similar silver products are commonly sold health supplements, available at Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and GNC,” Nixon says. “Targeting a Christian pastor, who has been using and offering the product for the past 10 years, is not supported by the facts or the law.”

In Monday’s filing, Bakker’s lead attorney Derek Ankrom -- a partner in Springfield, Missouri, law firm Spencer Fane -- asks the court to dismiss the lawsuit and grant “Pastor Bakker and Morningside such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper.”

Following the episode of The Jim Bakker Show in February, Bakker immediately complied with orders to stop offering Silver Solution on his show and ministry website.

Bakker’s supporters say he is the target of an anti-Christian campaign to force him off the air and silence his message.

“There’s something sinister at work here,” says Stephen Strang, founder and CEO of Charisma Media, who came to Bakker’s defense in a recent editorial. “There are forces at this very moment desperate to silence the church and keep the gospel off the air.”

In the Feb. 12 broadcast of The Jim Bakker Show, Bakker questioned Sherrill Sellman, who was introduced as a natural health expert, about the validity of her cure for the coronavirus, reports NPR.

Called the Silver Solution, Sellman allegedly falsely implied the substance would be an acceptable and effective cure for the virus.

"Well, let's say it hasn't been tested on this strain of the coronavirus, but it has been tested on other strains of the coronavirus and has been able to eliminate it within 12 hours. Totally eliminate it. Kills it. Deactivates it," Sellman says on the broadcast.

There is currently no known cure or treatment for COVID-19, the virus that has impacted more than 120,000 people in the world.

Sellman also stated Silver Solution "has been proven by the government that it has the ability to kill every pathogen it has ever been tested on, including SARS and HIV."