Republican lawmakers react with fury to Trump verdict and rally to his defense
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens during a news conference, April 12, 2024, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. In recent months, the specter of noncitizens voting in the U.S. has erupted into a leading rallying cry for Republicans.(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers reacted with immediate fury on Thursday as a New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election, speaking out with near unanimity in questioning the legitimacy of the trial and how it was conducted.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a "shameful day in American history" and the charges were "purely political." Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said the verdict was a "disgrace to the judicial system." And Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said that the decision was "a defeat for Americans who believe in the critical legal tenet that justice is blind."
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