Trump hush-money trial: speaker Mike Johnson expected to join ex-president in court – live updates
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Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, will reportedly join Trump in court today during the trial, according to multiple sources.
Also rumored to be making appearances were the North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and the former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran against Trump in the primaries before dropping out and supporting him.
Johnson has received backing from Trump on a number of occasions, including at a joint event at Mar-a-Lago while a far-right group of Republicans including Marjorie Taylor Greene were trying to oust the speaker – an attempt that ultimately failed.
For the first weeks of the trial, Trump had next to no supporters in the courtroom except occasionally for his son Eric. Yesterday, however, he was joined by an entourage that included JD Vance, the Republican senator who reportedly has his eye on becoming Trump’s running mate. Vance subsequently criticized the prosecution’s star witness, Michael Cohen – whom Trump is banned from attacking by judge Juan Merchan.
The Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has confirmed that he will join Donald Trump in court in Manhattan this morning.
In a statement, Johnson said he will give a press conference at about 10.15am ET outside the courthouse where he will speak about the “political persecution of the 45th President of the United States by President Biden’s weaponized Department of Justice and the left-wing Manhattan district attorney.”
Donald Trump has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse where the trial will get under way at 9.30am ET.
Michael Cohen is expected to return to the witness stand this morning to resume his testimony.
Michael Cohen is Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer who was for more than a decade his Mr Fix-It, but is now the prosecution’s star witness as it builds its case that the former president sought to conceal hush-money payments to the adult film star, Stormy Daniels.
Cohen served as Trump’s trusted adviser, personal attorney and self-described “attack dog with a law license”. But the relationship soured after Trump won the US presidential election in 2016 and did not offer Cohen a role in his administration.
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. Photograph: Julia Nikhinson/AP
Cohen, a native of Long Island, began practicing law as a personal injury lawyer in 1992 and joined the Trump Organization in 2006. He’d told Trump he’d read his book The Art of the Deal twice and soon became a close confidant.
In a 2018 profile, it was noted that Cohen performed a role much like that of Roy Cohn, the notorious New York political and legal fixer who had worked for Trump and his father. Cohen’s duties led him into fixing situations of a sensitive nature, including setting up “catch-and-kill” arrangements with David Pecker, publisher of the National Enquirer, which has circuitously led to today’s court confrontation.
Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, will reportedly join Trump in court today during the trial, according to multiple sources.
Also rumored to be making appearances were the North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and the former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran against Trump in the primaries before dropping out and supporting him.
Johnson has received backing from Trump on a number of occasions, including at a joint event at Mar-a-Lago while a far-right group of Republicans including Marjorie Taylor Greene were trying to oust the speaker – an attempt that ultimately failed.
For the first weeks of the trial, Trump had next to no supporters in the courtroom except occasionally for his son Eric. Yesterday, however, he was joined by an entourage that included JD Vance, the Republican senator who reportedly has his eye on becoming Trump’s running mate. Vance subsequently criticized the prosecution’s star witness, Michael Cohen – whom Trump is banned from attacking by judge Juan Merchan.
The second day of Michael Cohen’s testimony appears to be the most highly anticipated trial day. Officials started turning away hopeful spectators at 6am and at present, there appear to be some 200 people in various lines, a court officer said.
Lori Grabowski, who’s the second member of the public in line, said she got a line sitter for an opportunity to sit in the courtroom.
The line sitter arrived at 1pm Monday, she said. What brought her here?
“My love for political news and, I don’t want to be trite and say this is historic, but to be in that room with Donald Trump and Michael Cohen, for me, would be an epic experience. Even if I can’t see much, the intensity inside that courtroom will be palpable,” Grabowski said.
And, “There is the added bonus of seeing Donald Trump squirm.”
Good morning. Michael Cohen, once one of Donald Trump’s most loyal lieutenants and enforcers, is expected to take the stand this morning for a second day after testifying that the former president demanded that he bury an adult film star’s account of an alleged sexual liaison weeks before the election.
Cohen’s hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels is at the heart of the historic trial in Manhattan criminal court. Prosecutors charge that Cohen wired $130,000 to Daniels’s then attorney just 12 days before the presidential election to keep quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the payments and had pleaded not guilty.
Cohen is the prosecution’s star witness but jurors may see him as conflicted. The case against Trump is likely to succeed or fail on whether jurors believe Cohen’s account, or lean toward the defense claims that he is an “admitted liar” with an “obsession to get President Trump”.
We’re at the courthouse again today. Stay with us.
