'Negative impact': Ex-Trump lawyer says MAGA 'theatrics' hurt him with judge and jury
Former President Donald Trump's MAGA lawmaker allies aren't helping his criminal hush money case by showing up at the courthouse — and they may be hurting him by angering the judge and the jury, one former Trump attorney says.
Tim Parlatore spoke with CNN anchor Brianna Keilar Wednesday after several GOP lawmakers attended the New York City trial, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) even at one point trying to hold a press conference inside the courthouse and being rebuffed.
"So much of what's happening doesn't actually have anything to do with what the jury is seeing," said Keilar. "You had the house speaker riding to court with Trump along with Vivek Ramaswamy on Ttuesday, the day before it was Senators Vance and Tuberville, I'm sure there's going to be more who's who tomorrow."
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Keilar asked Parlatore to comment on what such support did to the Republican Party's persona.
"What does it say to you about where the Republican Party, historically the party of law and order, is at the moment, where you have top leaders accompanying Trump to his criminal proceedings?" Keilar asked.
"Well, I don't know how effective that's going to be for the jury," said Parlatore. "I mean, I heard that there was an incident where a couple of elected officials walked in and made kind of a bustle, not waiting for a break. And so I think that when you do that kind of thing, it does have the potential for a negative impact on the jury."
"Again, I'm a lawyer. I'm not a political guy," Parlatore added. "But I don't think that doing that kind of theatrics within the courtroom is going to necessarily be helpful, especially when you have the judge who apparently was visibly annoyed by that as well, that also has an effect on the jury."
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