Jun 4, 2024 Jun 4, 2024 Speaker Johnson and House Republican leaders hold their weekly press briefing.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) rebuked former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in the hush money case during a news conference on June 4, 2024. Johnson stated:
“The judicial system in our country has been weaponized against President Trump. These are politically motivated trials and they are a disgrace. This is election interference.”[2]
Johnson echoed Trump’s own words in labeling the proceeding a “witch hunt” and a “sham.” He asserted that it is “impossible for anybody to deny, that looks at this objectively, that the judicial system in our country has been weaponized against President Trump.”[2]
Johnson is the most senior Republican to appear with Trump outside the New York courtroom where Trump was convicted of trying to cover up a payment to an adult film star to boost his 2016 presidential campaign.[2] Trump has pleaded not guilty in three other cases charging him with trying to overturn his 2020 presidential defeat and mishandling classified documents.[2]
Michael Cohen being accused of repeatedly lying under oath to Congress, as well as the Republican claims that the judicial system is being weaponized against Trump for political purposes to undermine his 2024 presidential campaign. Here are the relevant details from the search results:тCohen was referred to the Department of Justice by Republican House Committee Chairmen Jim Jordan and James Comer for allegedly lying at least six times during his 2019 testimony before the House Oversight Committee.
This included denying crimes he had pled guilty to, making false statements about seeking White House employment, and lying about operating a pro-Cohen Twitter account.
Additionally, it was revealed in 2023 that Cohen admitted to lying under oath during a separate 2019 deposition before the House Intelligence Committee regarding inflating financial statements. The Chairmen assert that the current prosecution of Trump by the Manhattan DA heavily relies on Cohen’s testimony from these hearings where he allegedly lied repeatedly.Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans have claimed the cases against Trump, including the hush money trial where Cohen testified, amount to the “judicial system being weaponized against President Trump” through “politically motivated trials” aimed at interfering with his 2024 campaign. They labeled the proceedings a “witch hunt” and a “sham.”
Citations:
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/politics/mike-johnson-revolt-house-gop-leadership/index.html
[2] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-speaker-johnson-join-republican-parade-trump-hush-money-trial-2024-05-14/
[3] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/speaker-johnson-house-republicans-ramp-criticism-control-college/story?id=109786538
[4] https://www.c-span.org/video/
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVaUvA6DdBw
Source: Midtown Tribune news