May 31 – In his first extensive public comments on the “guilty” verdict of 12 New York jurors against former President Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said Friday that his reaction is one of “outrage.”
“We are outraged by it,” said Johnson, who was invited by the US representative. Mike Turner during a visit Friday to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
“Where we are in the country there is a lot of excitement about the upcoming election,” Johnson said after his visit, speaking just outside the base at the Hope Hotel and Conference Center. “I think what happened yesterday will increase enthusiasm on the Republican side and even on the side of independent voters – because they see what happened to President Trump is a legal issue. There is no other way to describe it.”
“This is not how our country should handle democracy,” said Turner, a Republican from Dayton. “This is now a battle for the soul of our country. People need to know that it makes a difference when you have a government that is willing to prosecute a candidate who is their opposition in criminal courts across the country.”
Trump was found guilty Thursday afternoon in New York of 34 crimes related to falsifying business records to cover up a sexual relationship with a porn actress.
“There is only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: through the ballot box,” President Biden wrote on X after the verdict was announced, with a link to his campaign’s fundraising page.
“While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately this verdict today the same way we do every other case that comes through the courtroom – by following the facts and the law, and I do this without fear or favor,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted the case, told media on Thursday.
“The real judgment will be on November 5, by the people,” Trump himself said. “And they know what happened here, and everyone knows what happened here.”
Johnson agreed that voters will have the final say.
“The goal was to be able to call the Republican candidate for president a ‘convicted felon,’” Johnson said. “And I think that’s outrageous, and I think most American people understand that.”
Turner said, “This is sad that our justice system was used for political purposes.”
Johnson’s congressional district in Louisiana includes Barksdale Air Force Base. While at Wright-Patterson, Johnson and Turner were able to visit the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) and the National Space Intelligence Center (NSIC), intelligence collection operations that provide information to Johnson and Turner as members of the Congress. Gang of Eight,” a group of eight lawmakers who receive valued classified briefings. Turner also serves as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
“From the classified briefings that we regularly attend on Capitol Hill assessing the threats to the country, I will tell you at a very high level that a lot of the information we receive in Washington comes from here,” he said. Johnson. , referring to Wright-Patterson. “It’s simply a crucial operation for our entire national security.”
The 3,500 employees of NASIC and NSIC “work in the shadows so that we can live in the light of freedom,” Johnson said.
“If you’re in Washington, you kind of know this is happening. But to come here and see it for yourself is a real eye-opener,” the speaker added.
Turner hosted the previous speaker at Wright-Patt, former Congressman Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, in 2022 and 2023.
And recently, Turner hosted national intelligence directors for national security briefings at NASIC and the base.
