Editor-DN
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) hold a press conference at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on April 12, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida.
Joe Riddle | Getty Images
Donald Trump said Friday that he will testify under oath in his criminal silence trial, which is set to begin Monday in New York.
“I can only tell the truth,” said Trump, who is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, “and the truth is there is no case.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee spoke at a press conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., at Trump’s Florida resort home in Mar-a-Lago.
The trial – the first against a former president – centers on hush money payments made in late 2016 to porn star Stormi Daniels, who says she had an extramarital affair with Trump years ago.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accused Trump of facilitating that payment and others to illegally withhold information from voters ahead of the 2016 presidential election, which Trump would win.
Trump is expected to be in court during the trial, which could last up to six weeks.
Asked at Mar-a-Lago what he’ll be looking for when the jury selection process begins Monday, Trump said, “Jury selection is largely a matter of luck. It depends on who you are.” Who gets it.”
He again attacked the presiding judge, Joan Merchin, accusing him of a conflict of interest that necessitated recusing himself from the case.
Trump and his lawyers have said the dispute is that Murchan’s daughter works for a Democratic political firm. Murchan already rejected that argument last year, but Trump’s lawyers recently filed another recovery request on similar grounds. Trump repeatedly targeted the judge’s daughter on social media, prompting Murchan to extend a gag order against Trump.
Johnson, whose role as leader of the narrowly divided House is being challenged from within his own party, traveled to Florida to meet with Trump, the GOP’s de facto leader and by far its most influential member. What was the trip?
The two men held a press conference to announce a bill that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote to strengthen election “integrity,” even though voting for noncitizens was already illegal. is legal.
