Former President Donald Trump is currently on trial in Manhattan Criminal Court on 34 counts related to an alleged role in classifying payments under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the final weeks of his presidential campaign in 2016.
The former president has been indicted for this crime, marking him as the first former president in history to face such charges.
The trial began on April 15 and is now in its fifth week.
Outside the courthouse, members of the House Freedom Caucus expressed their support for Trump during a press conference.
These members included Rep.
Bob Good (R-Va.), the caucus chairman, as well as Reps.
Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), and Michael Guest (R-Texas.
Rep.
Michael Walz (R-Fla.), who is not a member of the caucus, also attended.
During this press conference, Mr.
Good stated that the trial was an example of “what lengths the Democratic Party will go to try to rig or steal another election.” He accused them of trying to keep Trump off the ballot and hinder his ability to campaign while causing financial ruin.
Rep.
Gaetz referred to the case as “the Mr.
Potato Head doll of crimes,” suggesting that prosecutors had combined unrelated elements in an attempt to prosecute the former president.
Other Trump allies who attended the trial included House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Reps.
Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) and Cory Mills (R-Fla.), Sens.
Rick Scott (R-Fla.), J.D.
Vance (R-Ohio), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified during the trial, claiming that he had written checks to Ms.
Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with President Trump in 2006.
Cohen also revealed details of an alleged backchannel set up for him to communicate with President Trump through Robert Costello, a former prosecutor who worked for the president.
According to Cohen, this communication involved using code words and not directly mentioning President Trump’s name.
Prosecutors allege that emails between Cohen and Costello indicated instructions to “stay in the fold, don’t flip, don’t speak.
The trial also featured discussions about multiple invoices and checks that were allegedly falsified as legal retainer fees by Trump and Cohen to reimburse the payments made to Ms.
Daniels.
Prosecutors argue that these actions violate both federal and state laws.