During a short press briefing outside the Manhattan courthouse where the trial of former President Donald Trump is taking place, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) strongly criticized the proceedings, labeling them a “travesty of justice” on Tuesday, May 14th.
Mr. Johnson, a former litigator and the current top-ranking Republican, voiced his anger at the legal proceedings and its wider impact on the American justice system. He said he reached out to President Trump and told him he wanted to attend the trial in person.
“I am disgusted by what is happening here—what is being done here to our entire system of justice overall,” Mr. Johnson said. “I wanted to be here myself to call out what is a travesty of justice, and I think everybody around the country can see that. President Trump is a friend, and I wanted to be here to support him.”
The press conference occurred outside the courthouse, with Mr. Johnson pointing out that the court did not allow statements to be made inside the building. “That’s just one of the many things that are wrong here,” he remarked.
Mr. Johnson condemned the ongoing trial, which is now in its fifth week, as a calculated effort to hinder President Trump’s campaign efforts for 2024.
“They are doing this intentionally to keep him here and keep him off the campaign trail, and I think everybody in the country can see that for what it is,” he said.
The speaker didn’t hold back in his criticism of the main figures in the trial, accusing them of clear partisanship.
“What we’ve 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, Biden’s DOJ, and recently received over $10,000 in payments from the Democratic National Committee,” he stated.
Mr. Johnson reaffirmed his commitment to supporting President Trump and fighting what he described as politically motivated trials.
“These are politically motivated trials, and they are a disgrace. It is election interference, and they show how desperate the opposition to President Trump is and how desperate they truly are,” he said.
“The American people are not going to let this stand. Election day cannot get here soon enough, and we will continue to shine a light on all of this in Congress because we have that constitutional responsibility,” he added.
Mr. Johnson expressed his dissatisfaction with how the trial could impact the justice system.
“The people are losing faith right now in this country in our institutions. They’re losing faith in our system of justice, and the reason for that is because they see it being abused as it is being done here in New York,” he stated.
Mr. Johnson emphasized the importance of facts in a trial, noting that President Trump’s actions had previously been reviewed with no charges filed.
“Now, eight years later, suddenly they’ve resurrected this thing, they brought it back. And why is that? Well, just apply common sense; everyone can see. It’s painfully obvious that we are now six months out from election day, and that’s the reason. That is the reason why they brought these charges here and across the country,” he said.
Mr. Johnson also singled out former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, as lacking credibility. Mr. Cohen was on the stand for the second day inside the courthouse as Mr. Johnson spoke outside.
“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,” Johnson explained.
Mr. Johnson also criticized the charges of falsification of business records, pointing out that President Trump was not the bookkeeper for his company.
He decried the gag order placed on President Trump as a violation of his constitutional rights.
“They were overriding his constitutional right to defend himself from political smears from his harshest critics at the most important time,” he said.
Reflecting on his travels across the nation, Mr. Johnson conveyed the widespread public dissatisfaction with the trial.
“I’ve been in 102 cities in over half the states in the last few months, and I can tell you that no matter where we are around the country, I’ve been doing large events,” he said. “People from all walks of life come to these events, and they are concerned about this. They are disgusted about this. They are fed up. They’ve had enough because they see what’s happening.”
Mr. Johnson was joined in court on Monday by fellow Republicans, including two men rumored to be on the shortlist for President Trump’s 2024 vice presidential pick—Gov. Doug Burgum (R-N.D.) and former GOP candidate for president Vivek Ramaswamy—as well as Florida Reps. Byron Donalds and Cory Mills.
The GOP elected officials were seen entering the courthouse with President Trump as he walked to cameras to give brief comments before court resumed on Tuesday morning.
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