Trump trial 'smacked of political motivation' says DUP MP candidate after former president rubbishes verdict
A DUP MP candidate who has previously voiced support for Donald Trump has questioned the motivation of those prosecuting him.
Paul Girvan, alongside Sammy Wilson and Ian Paisley, had backed Mr Trump in the 2020 election against Joe Biden.
He was commenting in the wake of his conviction in New York on Thursday on 34 counts of “falsifying business records in the first degree”.
These included cheques, ledger entries, and invoices from his former lawyer Michael Cohen.
It all centres on what prosecutors described as a conspiracy by the Trump campaign to buy the silence of a woman called Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election (for which Mr Cohen has already been jailed).
The woman – who made a living by appearing in porn films – alleged she had an affair with Mr Trump, which he denies.
The case by New York prosecutors (Mr Trump used to be based in New York) has been ongoing in some shape or form since 2018.
After repeated stalled attempts, a case was eventually brought against Mr Trump last year.
Following the unanimous verdict this week, Mr Trump said: “This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5, by the people, and they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here.
"I’m a very innocent man.”
- ‘THIS ISN’T GOING TO CALM ANYTHING DOWN’
“I don’t necessarily condone what he was involved in,” said Mr Girvan, who is currently fighting to retain his South Antrim MP’s seat.
"But I do think there’s been a little bit of political motivation in relation to how this whole thing has come about.
"Had it been such an issue, why was it not raised in 2016 whenever they already knew this information [about the payments]?
"They sat on it and sat on it. They didn’t use it at that time ‘cause they didn’t think he was going to make it. And then whenever he did, it’s now an issue.
"I think it’s very much politically-motivated – that’s the line I’ll take on it, and I believe that.
"As it stands, I just note there seems to be a hardening of stances in America. It seems those who were Trump supporters have become even more ardent over this whole thing.
"I don’t think it’s done anything to calm or create an environment for going forwards to unite a nation.”
Influential loyalist figure Jamie Bryson told his 50,000 Twitter followers: “The Trump trial is a pantomime: the establishment are terrified of him, so they have trumped (pardon the pun) up all sorts of nonsensical charges, abused the law and all with the purpose of trying to silence him.
"Keep going Donald! The only jury that matters is 5 November.
“And the American [public] will put Donald Trump back in the White House and give the corrupt establishment a huge slap in the face.”
Similar sentiments were voiced by Nigel Farage (formerly of UKIP, then The Brexit Party, now Reform).
“This verdict is a disgrace. Trump will now win big,” he said. "Of course I'm going to stand up and defend Donald Trump. The world will be a much safer place with him in the White House.”
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- CONSERVATIVE OBSERVERS CRY FOUL:
Some observers, particularly conservatives, have raised concerns about the fairness of the trial.
Focus has fallen especially on the jury of seven men and five women, who all come from the strongly Democratic-dominated Manhattan district – and upon the judge himself.
Judge Juan Merchan (originally from Colombia) donated to the Democrats in 2020 (albeit to the tune of $35).
Accordng to CNN he has also donated to organisations called "the Progressive Turnout Project," and one of its subsidiaries, called simply "Stop Republicans".
According to The Guardian, Juror 8 said at the outset that he had "strong opinions" about Trump.
Juror No 9 is reported as having said "I do not agree with a lot of his politics", but felt that they could be impartial.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who fought Trump unsuccessfully to be the Republican nominee for president, said the whole court case "has been bent to the political will of the actors involved: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America - all in an effort to 'get' Donald Trump".
Echoing others, he complained that what had begun as "misdemeanor business records violations from nearly a decade ago" had become a suite of 34 federal charges.
"If the defendant were not Donald Trump, this case would never have been brought, the judge would have never issued similar rulings, and the jury would have never returned a guilty verdict," he was quoted as saying.
- FOUR YEARS IN JAIL?:
Donald Trump’s campaign has reportedly received $35m in small donations within roughly one day of his guilty verdict, its organisers announced on Friday.
Mr Trump has become the first former US president to be convicted of felony crimes.
Jurors deliberated for more than nine hours over two days before convicting Trump of all 34 counts he faced.
Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below could be heard in the hallway on the courthouse’s 15th floor where the decision was revealed.
The verdict exposes him to potential prison time in the city where his manipulations of the tabloid press helped catapult him from a property tycoon to reality TV star and ultimately president.
As he seeks to reclaim the White House in this year’s election, the judgment presents voters with another test of their willingness to accept his boundary-breaking behaviour.
Trump is expected to quickly appeal against the verdict.
There are no campaign rallies on the calendar for now, though he is expected to hold fundraisers next week.
Judge Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The charges of falsifying business records carry up to four years behind bars, though prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek imprisonment, and it is not clear whether the judge would impose that punishment even if asked.
The conviction, and even imprisonment, will not bar Trump from continuing his pursuit of the White House.