Republican lawmakers and allies of former President Donald Trump immediately rushed to his defense on Thursday, sending a flurry of statements and social media posts after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 felonies related to a payment made to Adult film star Stormy Daniels in the midst of the 2016 election.
"Today's verdict represents the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved," Florida Governor Ron Desantis wrote within 3 minutes of the guilty verdict being announced. "a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America-all in an effort to "get" Donald Trump. "
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert wrote seconds after, "The American people see through the Democrat games and know this is a sham verdict."
Trump's son, Donald Jr., shared a two one word reaction to the verdict. "Such bullshit."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went with even less words, instead sharing an image of an upside down American flag.
Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts brought against him on Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors claimed that Trump falsified his company's business records to keep stories about an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels from becoming public during his 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels gave the jury a detailed account of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in a Nevada hotel in 2006.
She said she accepted $130,000 from Cohen in the final weeks of the election to buy her silence about the story.
Even after being handed a guilty verdict, Trump maintains he is an "innocent man" who has done "nothing wrong." He is likely to appeal his conviction, delaying any sentencing.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan quickly denounced the manhattan courtroom as a "kangaroo court," claiming the guilty verdict is "what happens when our justice system is weaponized by partisan prosecutors."
