Trump’s Courtroom Rant After Cohen’s Bombshell Testimony Was His Angriest One Yet: "No Case Here"

After a day in court, standing outside the Manhattan courtroom, likely agitated by a testimony, former president Donald Trump launched one of his fiercest tirades yet. Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, the star witness for District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, testified on May 14, about his involvement in the alleged criminal hush money plot for which Trump is currently on trial, Raw Story reported.

Trump has delivered similar remarks after trial arguments, usually immediately followed by devastating fact-checks by newsrooms that disprove his assertions. This time, however, following Cohen's bombshell testimony, he became more agitated than usual. Ranting to reporters, he said, "The whole world is laughing now at New York's weaponized legal system, watching this unfold."

The Federal Election Commission, he claimed, "found absolutely no problem" with the payments after investigating the allegations. Trump also went on to cite several individuals who supported his position, such as Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), a prospective running mate for Trump, and right-leaning legal scholar, Jonathan Turley, who claimed that the "objective is to keep Trump off the campaign trail, that's all they're trying to do, keep him off the campaign trail."

Trump also targeted Judge Juan Merchan, accusing him once more of having a conflict of interest because of his daughter's political leanings. This is a complaint that has previously resulted in Trump being found in violation of his gag order, but this time, he was careful to avoid targeting Merchan's daughter directly. "We have a corrupt judge...a judge who's highly conflicted and he's keeping me from campaigning. He's an appointed New York judge..."

"You know who appointed him? Democrat politicians. He's appointed, he's a corrupt judge and he's a conflicted judge, and he ought to let us go out and campaign and get rid of this," he thundered, adding, "Every single legal analyst, even CNN, even MSDNC, say the same, there's no case here." Trump was almost yelling as he spoke, speaking louder and louder till he was shouting at those standing outside the courthouse. "A rather angry defendant," CNN's, Jake Tapper, observed as Trump stormed away. 

Before Cohen was subjected to a cross-examination by his attorneys, Trump again took to social media, shouting in his characteristic all-Caps-style, that the hush-money case against him is nothing but 'election interference.' Additionally, he suggested that Merchan is corrupt, 'making big money' by pursuing the case against him, as per Mediaite. 

In previous allegations too, the former president did not present any proof to substantiate his charges of Merchan's corruption when he declared on Truth Social, “The problem is that this Judge, Merchan, is TOTALLY COMPROMISED, CONFLICTED, AND CORRUPT, MAKING BIG MONEY OFF OF THIS SCAM AND ITS OUTCOME. He can’t render a fair decision, too much is at stake for him and the Democrats. The Appellate Division should remove him immediately!” 

Editor's note: This article was originally published on May 15, 2024. It has since been updated.