(PatriotNewsDaily.com) – Following former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict at his New York trial, Republican lawmakers reacted, speaking almost in unison about whether the trial was legitimate and questioning how it was conducted.
The House Speaker, Mike Johnson (R-LA), described the verdict as a “shameful day” in America’s history, declaring that the charges were “purely political.”
Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) declared the verdict a “disgrace to the judicial system.” While Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), the No. 2 House Republican, claimed that the verdict was a “defeat” for those who believe that “justice is blind.”
In the minutes after the verdict, Republicans, many of whom had been divided about their support for Trump, were finding common ground in attacking every aspect of the trial — the jury and the judge. However, many also turned their ire to President Joe Biden, despite the conviction emerging from state charges, in which Biden wouldn’t have had a say, given he is the nation’s top federal official.
Earlier on Thursday, the 12-person jury found that the former President had falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Much of the GOP’s reaction was echoing Trump’s language, describing the verdict — and the trial as a whole — as “rigged” and “disgraceful.”
Trump is expected to appeal the verdict.
Republican lawmakers, who typically show restraint about their criticism of juries and judges, abandoned that restraint on Thursday leaving one lone GOP voice in former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who requested the public “respect” the trial outcome and the “legal process.”
In a statement, Hogan requested that during a time when the country is “dangerously divided,” leaders of either party shouldn’t fuel the fire of “toxic partisanship.”
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