House Speaker Mike Johnson to appear in court in a show of support for Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson will appear this morning with Trump in the Manhattan courthouse where his hush money trial is taking place, a source familiar with the Louisiana Republican’s schedule confirms to NBC News. A number of prominent GOP elected officials have traveled to New York to show solidarity with the former president during the trial.
Johnson recently survived a threat to his speakership from Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. Trump provided Johnson cover during the effort, which ultimately failed.
Punchbowl News was the first to report Johnson's court appearance.
Vivek Ramaswamy expected to be in court
Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump's one-time GOP primary competitor and now a contender to be his running mate, will join the former president in court today, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Ramaswamy and Trump coordinated today's plans directly, according to the source, who said Ramaswamy is expected to ride in the car with Trump and stay at court with the former president for the whole day.
Another VP contender, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, was in the courtroom yesterday.
With Trump under a gag order, allies step up attacks on his hush money trial
Trump risks a trip to jail if he attacks witnesses in his New York hush money trial. But his allies aren’t covered by the gag order he has repeatedly violated, and they’re increasingly launching the broadsides that he can’t.
Yesterday, as former Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen testified that Trump was directly involved in a scheme to kill negative stories about him during the 2016 election, Sens. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., ripped into Cohen.
“He’s a convicted felon,” Tuberville said of Cohen at a news conference outside the courthouse in Manhattan. “I mean, this guy is giving an acting scene.”
Vance, who is in contention to be picked as Trump’s running mate, also wrote in a sarcasm-laden tweetstorm on X.
What to expect at trial today
Cohen, the prosecution's star witness, is expected to continue his testimony after taking the stand for the first time yesterday.
Trump's attorneys could begin cross-examining him as early as today.
Here's what you missed at trial yesterday
Cohen took the stand for the first time in the trial to testify about a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about her alleged affair with Trump.
Cohen said that he told Trump that he would “front the money” to Daniels, and Trump was "appreciative," telling him that he would get the money back.
He also described how in his opinion it would have been "catastrophic" if Daniels' story got out before the election, especially since it would've been on the heels of the "Access Hollywood" tape.