Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized former President Trump’s conviction in his New York hush money case on Thursday, stating that Trump will be able to overturn the “absurd” decision through appeal.
Shortly after Trump’s guilty conviction was announced in court, Johnson issued a statement that read, “Today is a shameful day in American history.”
“The American people rightfully see this is lawfare, and they know it is — and dangerous,” he continued. “President Trump will rightfully appeal this absurd verdict — and he WILL WIN.”
After weeks of testimony and around 11 hours of deliberation, a 12-person jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records on Thursday afternoon.
A few days before Trump is scheduled to publicly announce his candidacy for the Republican Party presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention, on July 11, the judge set the sentence date.
Earlier this month, Johnson—a staunch ally of Trump’s—travelled to New York to join the former president in the courts, making history as the highest-ranking legislator to accompany Trump in Manhattan during his ongoing legal proceedings.
The Speaker has continuously denounced the hush money prosecution as a fake trial designed to harm the former president politically as he runs for reelection to the presidency. He repeated this position following Trump’s guilty decision.
“The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden Administration, and the decision today is further evidence that Democrats will stop at nothing to silence dissent and crush their political opponents,” he stated.
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Johnson notably criticized Democrats for their response, with many of them applauding the guilty decision as soon as it was announced in the courtroom. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) shared a GIF of Seth Myers with the caption “guilty as hell,” and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) wrote “YES!” beside an American flag and a scales of justice on the social media platform X.
“Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges, predicated on the testimony of a disbarred, convicted felon,” Johnson wrote. “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”
A number of influential Republican senators swiftly joined in, criticizing the guilty decision, the case, and the “weaponized” legal system.
The head of the House GOP conference, Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), stated in a statement, “Today’s verdict shows how corrupt, rigged, and unAmerican the weaponized justice system has become under Joe Biden and Democrats.”
“We must work around the clock to ensure President Trump is victorious this November to save America from Biden’s failed Far Left Democrat agenda and the illegal weaponization of the justice system against the American people,” she continued.
