Trump trial continues after important defense witness is warned by judge

donald trumpThe Hush Money criminal trial will enter its 20th day on Tuesday with the continued cross-examination of Robert Costello, whom the defense used to try to discredit the former president’s former consigliere, michael cohen.

The former president, who is virtually guaranteed to be the Republican presidential nominee, is accused of falsifying business records related to paying $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels for her silence about an alleged sexual liaison.

Manhattan prosecutors allege that Trump conspired in the summer of 2015 with then-fixer Cohen and former tabloid boss David Pecker to keep any damaging information secret in an effort to protect his candidacy in the 2016 election.

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Cohen told jurors he coordinated the payment to Daniels weeks before Election Day and paid the bill himself. The campaign was seriously concerned that Daniels’ account could deal a mortal blow to Trump’s presidential run, as an embarrassing hot mic recording – in which he bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” without their consent – ​​had surfaced weeks ago. before.

Cohen, who testified over four days, claimed at one point that an angry Trump instructed him to bury Daniels’ account, telling him to “just handle it.”

“That was a disaster, a damn disaster,” Cohen said he remembered Trump saying. “Women will hate me.”

Cohen told the jury that he kept Daniels’ account under the radar in 2011, coordinating with his then-attorney to remove a story about the alleged encounter from a gossip website.

“He was really angry with me,” Cohen said of Trump’s reaction after informing him about Daniels’ potential appearance before Election Day. Trump reportedly said, “I thought you had this under control? I thought you took care of that.

Prosecutors say Trump’s reimbursement of Cohen in 2017 constituted illegal behavior because he described the disbursements as legal expenses in financial documents. Cohen’s testimony is integral to prosecutors’ argument that Trump was well aware that these refunds would be wrongfully described.

In cross-examination, Trump’s legal team failed to land any hard blows. The closest Blanche came was getting Cohen to actually admit to overbilling the Trump organization for repayment of a payment to a technology company called Red Finch to help make a poll of famous business figures more favorable to Donald Trump.

Cohen said he paid the technology company $50,000, but in reality he paid $20,000. Blanche asked Cohen if he pocketed the $30,000. “So you stole from the Trump Organization?” Blanche said. “Yes, sir,” Cohen replied.

On Monday, the prosecution rested its case and Trump’s defense began its own, with the day ending on Costello, a lawyer Cohen discussed during his four days on the stand. Cohen said he met with Costello after police raided his hotel room and home in April 2018, but was wary of having him as legal representation given his relationship with Rudy Giuliani.

Cohen said he feared that Costello would tell Giuliani about their conversations and that the former New York mayor would disclose that information to Trump. Costello stated that during the first meeting, Cohen said he did not know whether Trump did anything illegal; the operation occurred after Cohen admitted that he had paid Daniels.

“I explained to Michael Cohen that this entire legal problem he was facing would be resolved by the end of the week if he had true information about Donald Trump and cooperated with the Southern District of New York,” Costello testified. Costello claimed Cohen said, “I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump.”

Costello’s behavior on the stand, including comments, nearly turned the court into chaos and prompted a reprimand from Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial. Costello said “holy shit” at one point during his testimony and instructed someone to ask a question, something that only judges – not witnesses – have the power to ask.

After this episode, Merchan told the jurors that there would be a brief break and, after he left, he warned Costello against acting in this way. Merchan then asked, “Are you staring at me now?” and ordered court officials to “empty the courtroom.”

The press was expelled from the proceedings for several minutes. Under the U.S. Constitution, New York State, and common law, there is a presumption of access, which means that court proceedings must be open to the press and public except in extremely rare circumstances. Merchan did not allow a media lawyer to address the court on the access issue.