New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said Robert Costello’s behavior in former President Trump’s case reinforced “mobby” behavior in the former president’s circles.
Haberman participated in a CNN panel on Tuesday where they discussed the court-released transcript of when Costello, a former legal adviser to former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, and the judge got into a disagreement.
Haberman argued that Costello’s behavior on the stand reinforced “part of what the prosecutors are arguing here, which is that there is a sort of mobster aspect to this case and to much of the behavior of the Trump people.”
“That just doesn’t seem to help the defense,” she said in comments highlighted by Mediaite.
Just minutes after Costello took the stand Monday in Trump’s criminal case, Judge Juan Merchan asked jurors to leave the courtroom so he could reprimand Costello for his behavior.
They shared a tense moment and reporters were also asked to leave the courtroom. Merchan told Costello his behavior was “despicable” and said he would remove him from the stand if he tried to “get in my face one more time.”
Costello reportedly asked if he could say anything in response and Merchan said no because “this is not a conversation.”
Haberman argued that Costello’s time on the witness stand was not a good look for the defense and why many people in Trump’s world said calling him as a witness would be a risk.
She said that at the former president’s trial, for which he has a gag order, she expected Trump to provoke Merchan’s outrage. Costello making Merchan so angry isn’t what she expected, but it’s also “not entirely surprising because anyone who has dealt with Bob Costello knows he can be a wild card.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
