Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys called Robert Costello, an attorney who advised witness Michael Cohen, to testify in the former president’s New York trial on Monday.
Judge Juan Merchan ruled Mr. Costello could testify about “two prior inconsistent statements“ connected to Mr. Cohen’s earlier testimony in the case. The judge said that he did not want it to become a ”trial within a trial.”
Mr. Costello testified that he met with Mr. Cohen in April 2018 for several hours, adding that Mr. Cohen told him that President Trump was not involved in the payments that prosecutors say were illegally labeled. Mr. Cohen said otherwise last week, accusing the former president of directing him to make the payments to an adult film performer.
“I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,” Mr. Cohen said, according to Mr. Costello, who has previously made similar claims in public about his former client. “Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments. That he did this on his own. He repeated that numerous times,” he continued to say.
Mr. Costello, who at one time worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, said he considered Mr. Cohen as his client. He said he had offered to represent Mr. Cohen soon after the former lawyer’s home and office were raided by federal officials.
He testified that Mr. Cohen told him, “I don’t understand why they’re trying to put me in jail” regarding nondisclosure agreements, and he disclosed that he’d arranged one with Stephanie Clifford, also known as adult film performer Stormy Daniels.
One of the former president’s attorneys, Emil Bove, then asked him: “Mr. Costello, did you ever put any pressure on Michael to do anything?” He responded: “No.”
At one point, Judge Merchan admonished Mr. Costello after he made several audible negative reactions to the judge’s rulings on objections from the prosecution team. He asked the jury to leave and then criticized Mr. Costello as Mr. Costello glared at him. He asked: “Are you staring me down?” adding: “Clear the courtroom.”
It came hours after Mr. Cohen testified that he stole tens of thousands of dollars from President Trump’s company, an admission defense lawyers hope to use to undermine Mr. Cohen’s credibility as a key prosecution witness in the former president’s hush money trial.
He’s considered prosecutors’ best witness in the case, which accused President Trump of falsifying business records in connection to a repayment plan that involved Mr. Cohen. The former president has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Mr. Cohen claimed to have paid $50,000 to a technology firm for its work related to an online poll about famous businessmen. He said he gave the firm only $20,000 in cash in a brown paper bag, but he sought reimbursement from President Trump for the full amount, pocketing the difference.
“So you stole from the Trump Organization?” Trump attorney Todd Blanche asked. “Yes sir,” Mr. Cohen said.
Later in the day, Mr. Cohen, under questioning by Mr. Blanche, told the court that he might run for Congress because he has the “best name recognition out there.
“Going after President Trump, that’s your name recognition?” Mr. Blanche asked. “My name recognition is because of the journey that I’ve been on. Is it affiliated with Mr. Trump? Yes. Not because of Mr. Trump,” he asserted, adding that he’s also working on another book.
“Your journey includes near-daily attacks on President Trump?” Mr. Blanche asked. “Yes sir,” Mr. Cohen responded.
When pushed by Mr. Blanche, Mr. Cohen stood by his recollection of conversations with President Trump about the payments at the center of the case.
“No doubt in your mind?” he asked about whether Mr. Cohen specifically recalled having conversations with President Trump about the matter. There was no doubt, he said in response.
Before entering the courtroom on Monday, the former president again declared to reporters that no crime was committed and said the trial is an attempt to keep him off the 2024 campaign trial while he runs for president.
“We paid a legal expense. You know what it’s marked down as? A legal expense,” he said.
Minutes later, after court was called into session, Judge Merchan said that the trial is expected to last at least another week, with closing arguments taking place on Tuesday, May 28. There will be no court dates on Friday and next Monday, which is Memorial Day.
It’s not clear whether President Trump will testify in the case. While his attorneys have made no indication, the former president previously said that he might take the stand.
Generally, defense attorneys don’t favor putting their clients on the witness stand because it would open them up to a cross-examination from the prosecution.
