Following Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his criminal hush money case, Representative Dean Phillips, a Minnesota Democrat, called for the former president to be pardoned on Friday. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was found guilty in a New York City trial on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels by Trump’s then lawyer Michael Cohen ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged the payment was meant to prevent Daniels from speaking publicly about her claims of an affair with Trump in 2006. The trial, which spanned more than a month, concluded with a jury handing down a guilty verdict on all counts. Trump, who has consistently labeled the prosecution a “witch hunt,” maintains his innocence and denies the affair, with his legal team planning to appeal.
On Friday, Phillips, who is challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic 2024 presidential nomination, expressed his controversial stance on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He described Trump as “a serial liar, cheater, and philanderer, a six-time declarer of corporate bankruptcy, an instigator of insurrection, and a convicted felon who thrives on portraying himself as a victim,” before calling on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to pardon Trump “for the good of the country.” Newsweek has reached out to Phillips’ office, Trump’s spokesperson, and Governor Hochul’s office for comment.
