(7 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington DC - 7 May 2024
1. Cutaway of press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
"One of the things that is also in jeopardy right now is our judicial branch and it's our system of government itself. And I don't think we can say often enough here how much that has been abused under this administration and with local prosecutors, state prosecutors, and at the federal level who are using lawfare. They're using our judicial system to go after political opponents. The most obvious example of that, and I think the most egregious one in history, is what has been done to Donald Trump right now. This is yet another week where cable TV has a split screen image right on one side, turn on any news station. You see that the partisan prosecutors and the double standard DOJ going after President Trump. And on the other side, college campuses being wrecked by antisemitic mobs."
++SEPARATED BY BLACK++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
"This is all wrong. It doesn't matter what political party you're in. You have to look at this. If you look at this objectively, you know you know deep down that this is wrong. And think about all this in the context of New York. Assaults in New York are at their highest level ever. Crime is through the roof. The D.A. has decided to bring an eight year old bookkeeping charge that rest on the testimony of a long proven liar and perjurer. And the judge, who is a well-known Democrat, is pursuing an indefensible gag order on President Trump. And just think about that. They can think about the magnitude of that. He he's trying to override President Trump's constitutional right to defend himself against the constant smears of his political opponents in an election year. But not just any election year. The election year that most everyone understands is the most fateful one of our lifetimes. You cannot call yourself a serious judge and threaten a presidential candidate with jail time when he defends his reputation in public in the middle of a campaign. And I think everybody of good conscience understands that."
++SEPARATED BY BLACK++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
"These cases are a coordinated political attack, plain and simple. They are a clear attempt to keep Donald Trump in the court room and off the campaign trail. That's what this is. It's an election interference. It is borderline criminal conspiracy. And the American people see right through it. President Trump has done nothing wrong here and he continues to be the target of endless lawfare. It has to stop. And you're going to see the United States Congress address this in every possible way that we can because we need accountability. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it's bigger than President Trump. It's about the people's faith in our system of justice. And we're going to get down to the bottom of all these cases need to be dropped because they are a threat to our entire system."
++SEPARATED BY BLACK++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
++SEPARATED BY BLACK++
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rep. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House:
7. Cutaway of Johnson walking out of press conference
STORYLINE:
House Speaker Mike Johnson says all the cases against former President Donald Trump are "political attacks" and he intends to do all he can to to grow Republican leadership in Congress because the country is "facing very serious threats to our republic."
He was fined $9,000 last week — $1,000 for each of nine violations.
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