In the early hours of Tuesday, outside a courthouse in Manhattan, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) fervently defended former President Donald Trump, who is currently embroiled in a trial over alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal.
The former President is facing accusations of falsifying business records in connection with these payments.
Addressing the media, Johnson expressed his vehement disapproval of the charges against Trump. He stated, "I am disgusted by what is happening here, what is being done here to our entire system of justice overall." He further contended that "the people are losing faith right now in this country, in our institutions. Theyre losing faith in our system of justice."
"The facts here are very important. Facts are always important in a trial, or at least theyre supposed to be. The Presidents actions in this matter were previously reviewed, and no charges were filed. Why is that? Because theres no crime here. Now, eight years later, suddenly, theyve resurrected this thing. They brought it back. And why is that? Well, just apply common sense. Everyone can see. Its painfully obvious they were now six months out from an election day. And thats the reason. That is the reason why they brought these charges here and across the country," Johnson elaborated.
The Speaker went on to criticize the prosecution, stating, "what weve got here is a partisan Democrat district attorney, we have a Biden donor judge, and we have an assistant DA who was recently a top official at the Department of Justice, Bidens DOJ, and recently received over $10,000 in payments from the Democratic National Committee."
Johnson then shifted his focus to the prosecution's "star witness," former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. He stated, "I just listened to a few moments of his testimony this morning, and it is consistent with what hes already done. This is a man who is clearly on a mission for personal revenge and who is widely known as a witness who has trouble with the truth. He is someone who has a history of perjury and is well known for it. No one should believe a word he says today. He lied to Congress. He lied to the IRS. He lied to federal election officials. Even Cohens own lawyer testified to a grand jury that he is not reliable. So theres nothing that he presents here that should be given any weight at all by a jury, and certainly not this judge."
Johnson also expressed his disapproval of Judge Juan Merchan's decision to impose a gag order on Trump, suggesting it was a politically motivated move designed to hinder the former president's ability to campaign. "They are overriding his constitutional right to defend himself from political smears from his harshest critics at the most important time," Johnson said, referring to the gag order as "election interference."
Other prominent Republicans, including Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), have also made appearances at the trial to express their support for Trump.
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