Republicans react with annoyance to the verdict against Trump and come to his defense

Republican lawmakers were quick to express their displeasure after a New York jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying financial records to influence the 2016 election, virtually in unison questioning the legitimacy of the trial and the manner. How did it take place.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a “shameful day in American history” and that the charges were “purely political.” Ohio Senator JD Vance said the verdict was a “disgrace to the judicial system.” For his part, Louisiana U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, the second-highest-ranking Republican in the House, said the decision was “a defeat for Americans who believe in the fundamental legal principle that justice is blind.”

Just minutes after the verdict was announced, Republicans, who had previously been divided in their support for the party’s presumptive presidential candidate, found common ground with their attacks on the judge, jurors and the jury. President Joe Biden, even though the conviction was on state charges in a Manhattan court. As the country’s highest-ranking federal official, Biden is not involved in what happens inside a New York City courtroom.

The jury found that the former president falsified financial records as part of a scheme to influence his presidential election through hush payments to a porn actress who said she had had sexual relations with Trump. Few Republicans mentioned the details of the case, but many repeated their repeated assertions that it was a “rigged and shameful trial.” Trump is expected to file an appeal soon.

The intensity of the displays of indignation was notable, leaving aside the usual moderation that legislators and political figures have maintained on previous occasions, in which they have refrained from criticizing judges and juries. Only one Republican maintained that position, former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who said before the verdict that people should “respect the verdict and the legal process.”

“At this dangerously divided moment in our history, no leader — regardless of party — should pour gasoline on the fire with more toxic partisanship,” Hogan, who is seeking a seat in the Maryland Senate, posted before the verdict was read. “We must reaffirm what has made this nation great: The rule of law.”

There is no evidence that the trial was rigged. Trump’s legal team has complained about the $15 that Judge Juan Manuel Merchan donated to Biden in 2020 and his daughter’s work as a Democratic political advisor. The judge, however, rejected the former president’s lawyers’ request to recuse himself from the case and said he had no doubt in his “ability to be fair and impartial.”

Either way, Republicans have seized on Trump’s attacks on the judge and the system in the trial in New York and in three other cases — local and federal charges in Atlanta and Washington for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and a federal prosecution in Florida for illegal retention of top secret documents after completing his term. Many Republican lawmakers, including Johnson, visited the New York court to express their support.

“The verdict reveals more about the system than the allegations,” said South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has been one of Trump’s staunchest allies.

The verdict made Trump the first former US president to be convicted of serious crimes. And he spoke out when almost all Republican Party legislators in Congress have supported him for this year’s elections.

“Congratulations progressives,” Utah Senator Mike Lee posted. “They just guaranteed Trump’s election.”

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels Youtube, WhatsApp and to the newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.