By Rebecca Beitsch and Zach Schonfeld - 05/16/24

At least nine Republican lawmakers traveled to New York to appear in court alongside former President Trump Thursday, the latest in a string of GOP lawmakers to attend the hush money trial.

The move could jeopardize GOP attendance at a key vote later and also comes after the House Oversight Committee bumped a scheduled hearing to facilitate their attendance at court.

Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Mike Waltz (Fla.) and Eli Crane (Ariz.) were spotted in the courtroom, while Reps. Andy Ogles (Tenn.) Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), Ralph Norman (S.C.) and House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (Va.) were also spotted at the Manhattan courthouse.

Boebert and Gaetz were spotted sitting in the first row of the gallery, next to Eric Trump and the former president’s Secret Service agents. Good was also seen seated in the first row, on the other side of Trump’s security detail.

Five additional lawmakers are seated in the second row, which is also reserved for Trump’s guests.

But there was not enough space to seat the entire entourage, leading Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn to ask some of the lawmakers to sit down in the back of the room.

Many of the lawmakers were chatty after entering the courtroom, particularly during the multiple sidebars that kicked off Thursday’s proceedings.

And as the jurors entered the room, Boebert slowly turned her body to continue facing them as they walked across the room to the jury box.

While a large group, the lawmakers are just the latest in a parade of GOP figures who have attended the trial, including Speaker Mike Johnson (La.).

The trip to New York comes on what was scheduled to be a busy day in particular for the House Oversight Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. Both had scheduled morning hearings for a top GOP priority: holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.

A source confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that the last-minute shift in the Oversight schedule was to allow the lawmakers to make the trip to New York.