The political statement that the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, made this Tuesday at the doors of the Manhattan court (New York) where Donald Trump is being tried has raised the temperature around the first criminal trial against a former president of USA. Although the Republican candidate for re-election, who sits in the dock accused of 34 crimes of falsification of accounting records to cover up a bribe to a porn actress, had surrounded himself in recent days with an entourage of congressmen, the complaint of the third authority in the nation, the second in the line of succession to the presidency after Kamala Harris, that the trial is “politically motivated” represents not only a clear show of support for Trump, but also an undisguised attempt to influence the jury that will decide the future of the republican. Quite a contradiction: an evangelical Christian like Johnson, scourge of what he considers the moral decline of the United States, to the rescue of a man whose accusation is based on a case of adultery, the affair—which Trump has always denied—with Stormy Daniels.
The start of the second day of the testimony of Michael Cohen, the main witness for the Prosecutor’s Office, was therefore overshadowed by the presence of Johnson, who owes precisely to the Democrats whom he accuses of judicially persecuting his leader for having saved the last week of a motion of no confidence in the ultra Marjorie Taylor Greene. The president of the Chamber held a press conference outside the court in which he attacked the judicial system and, by declaring the trial illegitimate, embarked on an institutional train wreck: the Legislature against the judiciary. It is not something unprecedented – the precedent of the assault on the Capitol is recent – but in the midst of an electoral campaign, and in the context of a criminal trial, it demonstrates the polarization of the United States.
“These trials [los cuatro penales que afronta Trump] They are politically motivated and are a disgrace. “This is electoral interference,” Johnson said at the entrance to the court, repeating Trump’s same argument when calling the process a political witch hunt and a farce. “It is impossible for anyone to deny that our country’s judicial system has been turned into a weapon against President Trump.” Presidenthe said, not former president.
Meeting at the White House
After Johnson’s star appearance, Cohen’s testimony once again resonated devastatingly for Trump, declaring that the bribe payment to Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign was an attempt to influence the election “in the name of of Mr. Trump”, since Cohen managed and closed the agreement with the woman’s lawyer. The former lawyer, who testified for eight hours between Monday and Tuesday, described a meeting in February 2017 at the White House in which Trump confirmed his intention to reimburse him for the $130,000 bribe (he finally received $420,000, including taxes and a bond). Concerned about a federal investigation, Trump reassured him: “Don’t worry. “I am the president of the United States.”
After the FBI searched Cohen’s home and office in April 2018, Trump called him to encourage him, the former lawyer has said. When the calls stopped—as the case against Cohen, for which he was sentenced to three years in prison for illicit campaign financing, was taking shape—lawyer Robert Costello became the channel of communication between the president and the witness, whom he advised “to remain calm and not speak.” Costello was going to be the 20th witness for the Prosecutor’s Office, who finally closed his turn with Cohen.
Join Morning Express to follow all the news and read without limits.
Subscribe
The 34 charges against the Republican correspond to as many documents that prove the transaction: 11 checks, 11 invoices and 12 entries in the accounts of the Trump Organization, all as “ordinary legal expenses” – the core of the accusation – when in In reality, the intention of the payment was to silence the woman to avoid a “catastrophic” scandal a few weeks before the elections, especially among female voters. Cohen today detailed the fake invoices sent to the Trump Organization, and the checks he received, most signed by the president.
“I regret having done things for him that I shouldn’t have done: lying, intimidating people to achieve a goal. I do not regret having worked with the Trump Organization,” Cohen said when asked by prosecutors. “As I have stated before, [hubo] some very interesting great moments. But to stay loyal and do the things he had asked me to do, I violated my moral compass and suffered for it, as did my family.” Trump glanced briefly at his former lawyer as he spoke.
Cohen confirmed that his former boss filed a lawsuit against him for $500 million, which he ended up withdrawing. Trump has on numerous occasions referred to his former confidant as a self-confessed liar and criminal, the same argument that the defense will use in his interrogation (he lied to Congress about the Russian plot, the reason why Trump was subjected to his first impeachment or impeachment still in the White House). Since there is no session on Wednesdays, the defense shift is expected to last throughout the afternoon.
Like every day, Trump took advantage of the court hallway to address journalists, today in a flurry, for nine minutes. He thanked those from Washington for their support, “they believe it is the biggest scam they have ever seen. And the Democrats think the same: they are very embarrassed by what is happening.” Then he talked about China and electric vehicles, the same day that Washington quadrupled tariffs on Chinese imports. “China is eating our lunch right now,” he lamented. He also cited the positive voting intention polls, which give him an advantage over his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, in pivotal states (determinant for the result) and finally cited a statement from Michael Avenatti, Daniels’ former lawyer, convicted of defrauding the actress, in which she attacked the scathing order that prevents her from criticizing judges, prosecutors and witnesses.
Follow all the information about the elections in the United States onour weekly newsletter.
.
.
_
