The jury has the memory of Robert Costello affirming the role of Trump directing matters in keeping Michael Cohen close, rather than verifying Cohen’s untrustworthiness. Costello’s appearance might only be due to Trump’s insistence, drawing attention away from the actual defendant and the charges of falsified business records supporting another crime.
Jury instructions are being formulated and Trump’s threat to testify was so much of the same crap that he repeated, making a racist inference about the judge at the end of court on Tuesday.
Mr. Trump, who is once again the presumptive Republican nominee, had said repeatedly that he wanted to testify. But on Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump said in front of television cameras in the courthouse hallway that his lawyers would rest without his taking the stand. The defense would offer only one significant witness, Robert J. Costello, a pugnacious lawyer whose sole task was to attack the credibility of the prosecution’s star witness, Michael D. Cohen.
[...]
A prosecutor-turned-defense-lawyer, Mr. Costello was once an informal adviser to Mr. Cohen. When not drowned out by a chorus of prosecution objections, Mr. Costello sought to cast doubt on Mr. Cohen’s credibility. Mr. Cohen, he said, had once claimed he had nothing incriminating to offer prosecutors.
“I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,” he recalled Mr. Cohen’s saying.
But on cross-examination, it was Mr. Costello’s credibility that came under attack, as he sparred with the prosecution for a second straight day.
Ms. Hoffinger, the prosecutor, suggested that Mr. Costello had been trying to ensure that Mr. Cohen would not cooperate with prosecutors, casting him as an agent of Mr. Trump and the then-president’s lawyer at the time, Rudolph W. Giuliani.
She produced a litany of emails underscoring her point, including one in which Mr. Costello wrote to his law partner, saying, “Our issue is to get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the president.”
Trump’s legal team may have dulled some of the luster from Michael Cohen’s tale of reformation, but the prodigious amount of evidence Manhattan prosecutors built their case around largely stems from or relates to his role in the alleged scheme. Cohen has served as much as a guide to the broader body of evidence in the case as he is a witness offering his specific testimony. And for better or for worse, some of his biggest vulnerabilities as a witness appear to align more with the prosecution’s theory of the case than the defense’s — though both narratives are there for the jurors to decide. After nearly five years, Cohen has won the trust of prosecutors, amid considerable turbulence. From their apparent rapport with the witness, many of the jurors also appear to have bonded to a significant degree with Cohen, but of course, they will deliver their final and more decisive judgment with Trump’s verdict.
www.justsecurity.org/...
If you missed what the transcript revealed about Costello's dressing down on Monday, @Lawrence laid it out vividly — with a true sense of what it felt like inside the courtroom — at the beginning of @TheLastWord last night.
Trump and his entourage are now in the courtroom. For the first time all trial, Don Jr. is here. Proceedings kick off after the judge enters the courtroom, and the attorneys register their appearances.
Robert Costello returns to the witness stand, and Justice Merchan cordially reminds him that he's still under oath. "Let's get the jury, please," the judge says.
Assistant DA Josh Steinglass requests that the judge ask the jury about their availability next Wednesday.
"I will," Merchan says.
"All rise."
The jury enters, and the judge wishes them good morning. Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger continues her cross.
Bove notes that Costello's "friends in high places" email begins "Attorney Client Communication Privileged."
Costello confirms that he believed that was true, and Cohen didn't dispute the characterization in a follow-up email, before cutting ties with him.
Hoffinger offers a volley of objections after the next series of questions to the witness. First, it's sustained, but the latest drew a sidebar."
Approach," Merchan told the attorneys.
Q: Did you ever pressure Michael Cohen to do anything?
A: I did not.
Q: Did you ever have control over Michael Cohen?
Costello says he did not.
Prosecutor Hoffinger has a brief recross, confirming Cohen never signed the retainer agreement. Costello's testimony wraps and the witness leaves the courtroom.
Blanche: "Your honor, the defense rests."
Justice Merchan excused the jury until Tuesday — and the rest of us are in recess until 2:15 p.m. today, for the pre-charge conference.
That's where they hash out the law for jury instructions.
Mistrial and Misdemeanor are all still possible by next week.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
en.wikipedia.org/…
Bandersnatch: A swift moving creature with snapping jaws, capable of extending its neck.[21] A "bander" was also an archaic word for a "leader", suggesting that a "bandersnatch" might be an animal that hunts the leader of a group.[19]