‘Keep Confessing, Thank You’: Trump’s Courthouse Rant Raises Eyebrows As He Calls Hush Money Payment a ‘Legal Expense’

Former President Donald Trump raised some eyebrows on Tuesday while speaking to reporters outside of his porn star hush money trial.

Trump, who is standing trial for allegedly falsifying business documents related to various hush money payments to conceal affairs while running for president, dubbed those payments simply “legal expenses.” Lawyers and legal commentators, like Bradley Moss, shared Trump’s comments and argued that he appeared to be confessing to at least part of the crimes he stands accused of.

“Keep confessing, thank you,” wrote Moss on X.

Trump repeated much of his regular bombast during the remarks, saying, “This is a trial that should have never been brought. It’s a trial that is being looked upon and looked at all over the world.”

“Every legal pundit, every legal scholar said this trial is a disgrace. We have a Trump-hating judge. We have a judge who shouldn’t be on this case. He’s totally conflicted. But this is a trial that should’ve never happened. Should have been thrown out a long time ago,” Trump fumed, adding:

If you look at Jonathan Turley and Andy McCarthy, all great legal scholars, is that one that we’ve been able to find? That said, this should be a trial.

I called a, I was I was paying a lawyer and we marked it down as a legal expense — some accountant. I didn’t know. Mark it down as a legal expense. That’s exactly what it was. And you get indicted over that?

“I should be right now in Pennsylvania and far in many other states, North Carolina, Georgia, campaigning. This is all coming from the Biden White House, because the guy can’t put two sentences together and he can’t campaign. They are using this in order to try and win an election. And it’s not working that way. It’s working the opposite way. So check it out. Legal expense. It’s called legal expense. That’s what you supposed to call it. Nobody’s ever seen it. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. So thank you very much for coming,” Trump concluded as questions were shouted at him.

Notably, the lawyer Trump referred to, Michael Cohen, ended up pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and tax fraud regarding his actions on behalf of Trump and was sentenced to three years in jail. Cohen is now a key witness against Trump and is claiming that he was part of an illicit scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election directed by then-presidential candidate Trump.

Below are some additional reactions to Trump’s remarks:

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