Former President Donald Trump, meeting with reporters the day after his conviction on all counts in his hush money trial, said he’s the victim of a political prosecution driven by President Biden and his Justice Department.
“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” Mr. Trump said Friday in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City.
He angrily relitigated the case, attacking the prosecution, chief witness, and judge following a guilty verdict on 34 counts related to falsifying business records based on a misdemeanor that District Attorney Alvin Bragg elevated to a felony.
Mr. Trump remains under a gag order, but that didn’t stop him from ripping into the lead witness against him, Michael Cohen, whom he called “a sleaze bag,” and Judge Juan Merchan, who he said “looks like an angel but is really a devil.”
“The judge was a tyrant” who was deeply conflicted and should have recused himself from the case, Mr. Trump said.
He briefly criticized Mr. Biden’s handling of immigration and other domestic issues, weaving it into his lengthy takedown of the case involving hush money, which he clarified was a nondisclosure agreement and a perfectly legal one.
He attacked Mr. Biden’s mental acuity along the way.
“So I’m the leading person for president and I’m under a gag order by a man that can’t put two sentences together, given by a court, and they are in total conjunction with the White House and DOJ,” Mr. Trump said. “Just so you understand, this is all done by Biden and his people, and maybe just his people. I don’t know if Biden knows much about it.”
The Manhattan jury made him the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime.
Prosecutors said Mr. Trump took part in a scheme to conceal unflattering stories about him near the 2016 election.
Judge Merchan said sentencing will be on July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention starts in Milwaukee. Mr. Trump is set to receive the party’s presidential nomination. Until then, he’s free on his own recognizance.
Mr. Trump said a new poll by the Daily Mail showed him with a 6-point lead over Mr. Biden following the verdict. The former president also celebrated a nearly $35 million campaign fundraising record after the verdict.
“The people of our country know it’s a hoax,” he said. “They know it’s a hoax, they get it. You know, they’re really smart. And it’s really something. So we’re going to be appealing this scam. We are going to be appealing it on many different things.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.