House Speaker Mike Johnson and a legion of Donald Trump loyalists appeared Tuesday at the former president’s hush money criminal trial as Trump nemesis Michael Cohen took the stand for a second day.
The conservative congressional leader trashed the trial as a partisan stunt to hurt Trump’s campaign in a brief statement to reporters in a park across the street from the 100 Centre St. court house in lower Manhattan.
“They are doing this intentionally to keep him here [and] off the campaign trail,” Johnson said. “I am disgusted by what is happening here, by what is being done to our system of justice.
“I am one of hundreds of millions … I am a citizen who is very concerned about this,” Johnson said.
Johnson attacked Judge Juan Merchan as a “Biden-donor judge” and accused prosecutors of secretly taking orders from President Biden’s Justice Department.
He helped the former president skirt his gag order by repeating his attacks on Merchan’s daughter.
“Among the atrocities here: the judge’s daughter is making millions of dollars doing online fundraising for Democrats,” Johnson declared.
Johnson’s appearance came as Trump vice presidential hopefuls and a parade of other GOP leaders continued to make pilgrimages to the courtroom to show their undivided loyalty to the party’s leader.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, all of whom are vying to be Trump’s No. 2, sat in the courtroom behind Trump’s defense table.
A day earlier, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who is also said to be on Trump’s veepstakes short list, showed his face along with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a MAGA stalwart.
Ex-Rep. Liz Cheney, who broke with the GOP over Trump’s support for the Jan. 6 attack, derided Johnson, an avowed evangelical Christian conservative, for backing Trump over the lurid accusations that he paid hush money to cover up having sex with a porn star.
“I guess he’s not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all,” Cheney tweeted.
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