Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) came out in strong defense of Donald Trump as the former president returned to a New York courthouse for the fifth week of his hush money trial, with the top House Republican decrying the charges as being politically motivated and corrupt. 

Trump entered the Manhattan Criminal Court while being flanked by a number of GOP allies such as Johnson, who sought to serve as a voice for the former president as he must comply with a gag order prohibiting him from criticizing witnesses. Johnson used the opportunity to denounce Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney who arrived for his second day on the stand to testify against the former president.