Four of former President Donald Trump's allies, including some who have been mentioned as potential running mates for the presumptive GOP nominee, attended his business records trial in New York City Tuesday, telling the press during a break that the proceedings are a "sham."
They also questioned the motives of Judge Juan Merchan, District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and star witness Michael Cohen in their statements.
Appearing, in addition to House Speaker Mike Johnson, were North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom ran against Trump in the GOP primary, along with Florida GOP Reps. Byron Donalds and Cory Mills.
Trump is under a gag order prohibiting him from making attacks on the prosecutors, witnesses, or members of the judge's family, but his supporters at the trial aren't under that prohibition, and they made scathing comments about the proceedings and those involved.
"You've got a judge that's a donor to [President Joe] Biden, you've got prosecutors that are supporters of Biden, and then you've got relatives of the judge that are benefitting financially directly from this trial," Burgum said.
Polls are showing that Trump is in the lead nationwide, he added, so "the American people have already acquitted Donald Trump … the sooner that this scam trial can be concluded, the sooner the president can resume getting out and campaigning and talking to the American people about the issues that matter to them."
Donalds, meanwhile, called the trial a "farce."
"Michael Cohen basically sat there and said, Yeah, he invoiced legal expenses. The Trump campaign. The Trump Organization, not the campaign, paid out money and legal expenses," said Donalds. "Where's the crime? There is no crime. The only crime that is happening here is this Democrat judge and the Democrat Party prosecuting their political rival right in the middle of a presidential election."
He added that Trump has done no wrong.
"The only thing that's being done wrong is by this judge," he said. "His daughter is making money raising money for Democrats and all of the fundraising, emails and all the fundraising … he won't recuse himself. This is a travesty of justice."
Mills attacked Cohen, saying that he has "no credibility [and] has perjured himself multiple times."
"This is nothing more than election interference at its finest," he said. "You are seeing where the weaponization of what was the Department of Justice, now the Department of Injustice has continued to be utilized against the American people."
Ramaswamy called the trial a "politicized persecution" and said he learned "a lot" by attending in person.
"It's straight out of a Kafka novel," said Ramaswamy. "The prosecution's main strategy appears to be to bore the jurors into submission, and if you look in that direction, sadly, it may appear to actually be working."
He added that the case has been "vague" all along but now, with Cohen's testimony, "it is less clear than ever."
"So you have a guy who has been a perjurer in the past who is now saying he falsified business records," said Ramaswamy. "What is the crime that Donald Trump committed now? It appears to be what they might allege is some sort of bookkeeping error or whatever."
The legal theory behind the case, he added, is that Trump should have used campaign funds to make an "allegedly personal payment" to Stormy Daniels.
"This is a sham," he said. "This is not the United States of America. This is some third-rate banana republic. If this were happening in another country, we would be laughing at them as a sham democracy.
"I am ashamed as an American citizen to sit here in a courtroom, watching the former leader of the free world and let's be honest, likely next leader of the free world sitting with the indignity in this dingy third-rate courtroom with fourth-rate, prosecutors and fifth-rate lawyers."