Speaker Mike Johnson steps up support for Trump in rant outside New York courthouse calling hush money judge ‘corrupt’ and insisting star witness Michael Cohen is on ‘a mission for revenge’ and can’t be trusted
Speaker Mike Johnson described the case against Donald Trump as “so corrupt” and warned the public not to “believe a word,” Michael Cohen said on the stand Tuesday.
‘It is impossible for anyone, if you look at this objectively, to deny that the legal system in our country has been used as a weapon against President Trump. The system is using every tool at its current disposal to punish one president and provide cover for another,” Johnson said in brief remarks outside the courthouse.
Johnson also went after Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter.
“Among the atrocities here, the judge’s daughter is making millions of dollars by raising money for Democrats online. They use this process as a hook. It’s so corrupt.’
Merchan’s daughter, Loren, runs a digital marketing agency called Authentic Campaigns, which works with Democratic candidates and nonprofits.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that her work presents a conflict of interest and have tried unsuccessfully to oust Merchan from the case.
Speaker Mike Johnson described the case against Donald Trump as “so corrupt” and warned the public not to “believe a word,” Michael Cohen said on the stand Tuesday
The judge had also made several small donations totaling $35 to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign, including $15 to Biden.
A state court ethics panel ruled that Loren Merchan’s work did not affect his impartiality.
Johnson also pledged that his Republican-led House would work to “curtail the abuses of Special Counsel Jack Smith,” who is overseeing the cases against Trump for his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and wrongdoing handling secret documents.
“I am working with Chairman Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman Comar of our Oversight Committee on measures to rein in the abuses of Special Counsel Jack Smith,” Johnson said.
He also recalled that “the latest revelation is that they manipulated documents and possibly tampered with the evidence in the case, it appears, and that doesn’t surprise any of us in Congress.”
In recent filings, Smith acknowledged that some of Trump’s documents in the boxes the FBI recovered from Mar-a-Lago are not in the same order as when they were seized.
Johnson and a number of other conservative figures accompanied Trump to court on Tuesday to express their support.
Some critics noted the irony of Johnson, a deeply devout Christian who has spoken about monitoring his son’s porn use, appearing alongside Trump during a trial in which he had sex with a porn star.
‘I have to admit that I’m surprised [Johnson] wants to be a member of the ‘I cheated on my wife with a porn star’ club. Guess he’s not that concerned about teaching morality to our young people after all,” ex-Republican Rep. Liz Cheney wrote on X.
Cohen returned to the stand Tuesday morning to provide more testimony against his old boss, former President Trump.
The fixer and lawyer, who was convicted of hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and lying to Congress, will face grueling questioning from the former president’s lawyers.
The prosecution’s key witness told the court Monday how he would silence the former president’s accusers before the 2016 election with a series of hush-money deals.
The jury heard that Trump was more concerned about his campaign than his wife Melania when stories of alleged affairs emerged.
Trump prepares for another day at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City
Johnson also pledged that his Republican-led House would work to “curb the abuses of Special Counsel Jack Smith,” who is overseeing the cases against Trump for his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and mishandling with secret documents.
Cohen also described working under the direction of and on behalf of the presumptive Republican nominee.
The $130,000 payout for an alleged 2006 sexual encounter between Daniels, a porn star, and Trump is not illegal, but Trump is accused of falsifying company records to cover it up, a charge he denies.
Trump’s lawyers have maintained that the hush money payment was intended more to protect his wife from anger than to influence the 2016 election.
“He wasn’t thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign,” Cohen insisted Monday as Trump shook his head.
When the story resurfaced, Cohen said Trump cornered him: “I thought you arranged this?”
Cohen claims Trump also said, “This is a disaster, a total disaster. Women are going to hate me. Women will hate me. Guys, they think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.”
Cohen said he asked Trump how he thought the affair would affect his marriage and Trump said, “Don’t worry… how long do you think I’ll be on the market? Not long.’
Cohen said he coughed up the $130,000 himself and set up a shell company listed as a real estate consulting firm. Prosecutors say Trump later reimbursed him and covered it as a legal retainer. Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying company records.