Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) held a press conference at the Mar-a-Lago estate of Mr. Trump on April 12, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Donald Trump said Friday that he will testify under oath in his criminal hush money trial, which is set to begin in New York on Monday.
“All I can do is tell the truth,” said Trump, who has been indicted on 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 Mar-a-Lago.
The trial — the first against a former president — centers on a hush money payment in late 2016 to porn star Stormy 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 before the 2016 presidential election, which Trump would go on to win.
Trump is expected to be in court throughout the trial, which could last more than 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 more luck. It depends on who you get.”
He again attacked the presiding judge, Juan Merchan, accusing him of having a conflict of interest that necessitated his recusal from the case.
Trump and his lawyers say the conflict is that Merchan’s son works for a Democratic political firm. Merchan already rejected that argument last year, but Trump’s lawyers recently filed another motion to dismiss on similar grounds. Trump has repeatedly targeted the judge’s daughter on social media, prompting Merchan to extend a gag order to Trump.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) held a press conference at Mr. Trump on April 12, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Johnson, whose role leading the largely divided House has been challenged from within his own party, traveled to Florida to meet with Trump, the de facto leader of the GOP and by far its most influential member.
The two men held a press conference to announce a bill aimed at strengthening the “integrity” of elections by requiring proof of US citizenship to vote, even though it is illegal for those who are not citizens who vote.
