House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., after attending Tuesday morning proceedings in Donald Trump's New York City criminal trial, accused Democrats of using the judicial system to "punish" the former president.
Johnson, saying he traveled to Manhattan to show his support for Trump, added that he was "disgusted by what is happening here, what is being done here to our entire system of justice overall."
"The people are losing faith, right now, in this country, in our institutions. They're losing faith in our system of justice. And the reason for that is because they see it being abused as it is being done here in New York," Johnson said outside the courthouse.
"The facts here are very important. Facts are always important in a trial, or at least they're supposed to be. The president's actions in this matter were previously reviewed and no charges were filed. Why is that? Because there's no crime here.
"Now, eight years later, suddenly they've resurrected this thing. They've brought it back. And why is that? Well, just apply common sense.
"Everyone can see. It's painfully obvious that we're now six months out from Election Day. And that's the reason. That is the reason why they brought these charges here and across the country."
Johnson, citing the Florida case in which Trump has been charged with mishandling classified documents, said he and GOP lawmakers are looking to "rein in the abuses" by President Joe Biden's Department of Justice.
"That one [case] is so egregious the trial has been indefinitely postponed. I'm working with Chairman [Jim] Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee, Chairman [James] Comer of our Oversight Committee on measures to rein in the abuses of special counsel Jack Smith," the speaker said.
"The latest revelation is that they've manipulated documents, they might have tampered with the evidence in the case, it seems, and that doesn't surprise any of us. In Congress we have oversight responsibility, and it is our objective and our responsibility to hold them accountable."
Johnson said all the Trump trials, which include two accusing the former president of trying to overturn the 2020 election results overall and in Georgia, are "politically motivated."
"It's impossible for anybody to deny, that looks at this objectively, that the judicial system in our country has been weaponized against President Trump," Johnson said. "The system is using all the tools at its disposal right now to punish one president and provide cover for another."