In a new weekly feature, the Tribune Opinion team is selecting the best quotes of the week. Check out last week’s quotes here.
Just when we thought Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s flag-flying controversy was going to be the national news of the week, Donald Trump was found guilty Thursday of all counts of falsifying business records. In Illinois, Springfield’s late-night budget session gave us some choice quotes from both sides of the aisle. The Cubs president also tells fans to have hope after a rough May.
“I’m a very innocent man, and it’s OK. I’m fighting for our country. I’m fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now.”
— Donald Trump
Trump said this Thursday after being convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records by a Manhattan jury.
“We don’t know when, but I’m very confident we’ll come out of this, and we’ll start scoring runs, and I do think there will be a cumulative exhale.”
— Cubs President Jed Hoyer
Hoyer responded to the Cubs’ recent struggles with offense, especially its low power rankings, as reported by the Tribune.
“We didn’t choose Michael Cohen to be our witness. We didn’t pick him up at the witness store. The defendant chose Michael Cohen to be his fixer because he was willing to cheat and lie on his behalf.”
— Joshua Steinglass, an assistant Manhattan district attorney
Steinglass told this to jurors during closing remarks at former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York, as reported by The Washington Post. He stressed that Trump’s defense team attempted to make the trial all about Cohen, but it was not.
“They took a misdemeanor, put a tuxedo on it and called it a felony.”
— Trey Gowdy, former U.S. representative
Gowdy spoke on Fox News after Trump’s conviction.
“I think it should be clear to everyone in this state what this supermajority is willing to do to ram a tax increase down the throats of the citizens of Illinois at 4:30 in the morning.”
— Illinois state Rep. Patrick Windhorst
Windhorst, a Republican, said this just before the Illinois House passed a $750 million tax hike package that was part of the $53.1 billion state budget, as reported by the Tribune.
“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not.”
— U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito
After U.S. Senate and House Democrats asked Alito to recuse himself from cases involving former President Donald Trump, he sent letters back refusing to do so.
“This is a business based on trust, and in my view the mayor promised more than the bill did.”
— Illinois Senate President Don Harmon
Harmon stopped a measure to extend the moratorium on public school closings in Chicago from going to a vote because of promises made by Mayor Brandon Johnson not to cut funding to the district’s selective-enrollment schools nor close any schools, as reported by the Tribune.
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