Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance summed up the ongoing NY v. Trump trial as a Democratic effort to distract that “the world is on fire” under the Biden administration.
“This is about the fact that President Joe Biden has a failed record as commander in chief and leader of this country, and the Democrats can’t talk about that. So what they’re doing is putting these trials out there and saying, ‘Focus on this, not on the fact that the world is on fire and the fact that you’ve gotten poor under the presidency of Joe Biden,'” Vance said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” His comments come as war continues raging in the Mideast and Ukraine, and anti-Israel agitators stage protests on college campuses nationwide.
Donald Trump’s trial will hold its 16th day in court on Monday, when the 45th president’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is anticipated to take the stand.
The case revolves around the alleged falsification of business records. Prosecutors say Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to quiet her claims of the alleged extramarital sexual encounter with Trump. Prosecutors allege the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses, and are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case.
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Daniels took the stand last week, where she detailed that she met Trump in 2006 at Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf tournament. She alleged that the pair had sex in Trump’s hotel room during the event, which Trump has repeatedly denied in public comments. Daniels’ testimony also included describing to the court how she got into the pornography business after working as an exotic dancer as a teenager.
Legal experts have sounded off that Daniels’ testimony was irrelevant to the case and that it should not have been admitted into the record. The Trump legal team twice motioned for a mistrial, but were denied by presiding Judge Juan Merchan.
Vance reiterated on CNN that Trump is not on trial for sexual indiscretions, despite the focus on the salacious details stemming from Daniels’ testimony.
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“Donald Trump is not on trial for sexual indiscretions. This is a sham trial, where they’re saying his misdeed is that he violated the law. That he committed a crime. You can’t throw somebody in prison in the middle of a presidential election because you think that he did something bad 10 years ago. So I think we have to separate these arguments from the actual criminal trial that’s attempting to – in my view, Dana – interfere in a presidential election,” he told host Dana Bash.
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Vance, who had previously criticized Trump after the infamous “Access Hollywood” video was unearthed ahead of the 2016 election, said Trump should not be treated differently amid the trial because he’s a former president. He did argue that Trump “is being treated differently.”
“The only thing that Alvin Bragg, the New York prosecutors’ team, thinks Donald Trump did wrong is that he ran for president in 2024, and he looks to be on the cusp of victory,” he said. “That is the only thing that this is ultimately about. If you look at the underlying argument of the case, they can’t even identify what it is that Donald Trump did. They said he committed a paperwork violation in the service of a crime, but they won’t even specify the crime that he allegedly committed. And I think that when you look at all of these attacks on Donald Trump, you have to be honest with yourself and say, ‘This is not about law. And this is not about justice.’”
Meanwhile, Trump has spoken to the media and continued posting on Truth Social amid the trial, where he has addressed a bevy of issues, including ongoing anti-Israel protests on college campuses, and slammed the trial as a “scam” promoted by the Biden administration ahead of the 2024 election.
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”This Witch Hunt is FALSE ANCIENT HISTORY that was fully adjudicated by the Voters in the 2016 Presidential Election. It only has to do with Election Interference, and trying to help Crooked Joe Biden get elected because he can’t do it by himself. It is a vicious attack by the Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, in strict coordination with the D.O.J. and the White House, on Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. IT IS ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND STRICTLY THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!” he wrote on Truth Social last week.
