WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran, who represents East Texas in the House of Representatives, called the conviction of former President Donald Trump in the hush money trial "a travesty of justice" and a "mockery of the American legal system."
On Thursday, a jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records at his company in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex, the Associated Press reported.
Moran told CBS19 in an interview Friday that he believes the charges against and conviction of Trump were politically motivated from the beginning.
"That's not the way our justice system should work. When we saw a handpicked judge and a handpicked venue that was stacked against the president, and rulings from an evidentiary standpoint that I don't think you're going to hold up on appeal," Moran said. "This is not the way the justice system should work. It should not be politically motivated. And that's what it was New York."
Trump's sentencing is set for July 11, which is four days before the Republican National Convention.
After he is sentenced, Trump can challenge his conviction through the appeals process in a New York appellate court. The AP reported Trump's lawyers have already started the beginning stages for appeal with objections to the charges and rulings at trial.
Moran said there are a lot of grounds for appeal in his opinion, such as the jury instructions and whether or not the jury was unanimous.
"Hopefully, the New York appellate court will take care of this trial court verdict, and we'll undo it, undo this travesty of justice, and then we can move on about our business," Moran said. "But the real court of opinion comes in November, and I think that's when the American people will have their say."
Despite the conviction, Moran said the support for Trump is widespread within the Republican Party and throughout America. He added this verdict does not change his opinion about what should happen in the November election, which is set to include Trump as the Republican nominee and President Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate.
"And I don't think it changes other folks opinions again, because this, as we look in the November election, we're looking at a choice between two directions, policy directions for America, and the policies of the Trump administration were successful," Moran said. "The policies of the Biden administration have been a disaster over the past three years. And I'm certain American folks are going to go back and say we want the direction that President Trump had us on back in 2016 to 2020."