Almost a dozen Republican lawmakers trekked up to New York City on Thursday to support former President Donald Trump as he faces charges of falsifying business records years ago, brought by a Democrat district attorney in the midst of the 2024 presidential election.
The lawmakers included Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ), Lauren Boebert (CO), Michael Cloud (TX), Eli Crane (AZ), Matt Gaetz (FL), Bob Good (VA), Diana Harshbarger (TN), Anna Paulina Luna (FL), Ralph Norman (SC), Andy Ogles (TN), and Mike Waltz (FL).
“The cavalry has arrived to the courthouse,” a Gaetz aide posted on X.
The dozen formed the largest contingent of lawmakers accompanying Trump to court to date. Earlier this week, Sens. Rick Scott (FL), Tommy Tuberville (AL), JD Vance (OH), Rep. Byron Donalds (FL), House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA), Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, and Rep. Cory Mills (FL), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and Vivek Ramaswamy showed up to support Trump.
They have acted as his surrogate on the airwaves, commenting and answering reporters’ questions that Trump cannot.
Trump is under a strict gag order and unable to comment on witnesses, the prosecution team other than District Attorney Alvin Bragg, other court staff, their families, jurors, and Judge Juan Merchan’s family — which includes a daughter who raises money for Democrats. Merchan has fined Trump for violating the gag order nine times and threatened jail time if he violates the order.
But this week, as the prosecution’s “star witness” Michael Cohen — who has been attacking Trump in recent days — has taken the stand, Trump’s backers have torn into him, highlighting his checkered past and his criminal record.
Shortly after arriving at the courtroom, Luna posted on X a transcript of Cohen admitting that he lied to Congress in 2019, adding: “Why is a serial, self-admitted perjurer like Michael Cohen still being taken seriously?”
The lawmakers took turns speaking to members of the media outside of the courtroom.
Gaetz said, “There is literally no branch of government that Michael Cohen has not lied to.”
Ogles called Cohen a “convicted felon” and previous witness Stormy Daniels a “hooker.”
Good went after Merchan’s daughter, saying, “You got a corrupt judge whose daughter is one of the leading fundraisers for the Democrat Party, having raised some $100 million. That’s the judge’s daughter.”
Crane said, after two hours in the courtroom, he heard Cohen admit six times that he lied.
Biggs said, “Mr. Cohen admitted repeatedly that he lied. He admitted repeatedly that he did so for his own personal interest. That tells you everything you need to know about the lack of credibility in this case.”
Waltz later spoke to Fox News about “how much Cohen had lied,” and called being in the courtroom “surreal.”
“It takes me back to places I’ve served — Africa, South America, the Middle East, where weaponizing a judge and judicial system against a political opponent is normal,” Waltz said. “Is this where America is going? I thought I would never see that with my own eyes.”
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