Judge in Trump’s hush money trial threatened to throw witness out of court for behavior on stand
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial cleared the courtroom of reporters Monday and then threatened to remove the defense’s witness from the trial altogether because of his behavior on the stand, a court transcript later showed.
Judge Juan M. Merchan told Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor, that his conduct was “contemptuous right now.”
Costello aggravated Merchan repeatedly in his testimony by making comments under his breath and continuing to speak after objections were sustained — a signal to witnesses to stop talking. At one point, Costello remarked “jeez” when he was cut off by an objection. He also called the whole exercise “ridiculous.”
I’m putting you on notice that your conduct is contemptuous,” Merchan said, according to the transcript of the conversation that occurred when the press was out of the room. ”If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand.”
Costello didn’t return a message seeking comment Monday night.
“The fact that I had to clear the courtroom and that the court officers, including the captain, had great difficulty clearing the courtroom, and that there was argument back and forth between the press and including counsel for the press, goes to why I had to clear the courtroom in the first place,” Merchan told
Trump’s
. “And that is, sir, your conduct is contemptuous right now.”
When he brought the press back in, Costello’s testimony continued and it will resume Tuesday. The defense is using him in an effort to attack the credibility of Trump attorney-turned-adversary Michael Cohen.
Trump’s lawyers also pressed Merchan to stop the case from going to the jury and throw out the charges after prosecutors concluded their presentation of evidence. He didn’t immediately rule on the request, which came at the end of a heated day that also included the prosecution’s star witness admitting to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Trump’s company.
After jurors left for the day, defense attorney Todd Blanche told the judge that prosecutors failed to prove their case and that it should be thrown out immediately. Blanche beseeched the judge to “not let this case go to the jury relying on Mr. Cohen’s testimony.”
The judge appeared unmoved by the argument, asking the defense attorney whether he believed that “as a matter of law, this person’s so not worthy of belief that it shouldn’t even be considered by the jury?”
“You said his lies are irrefutable,” the judge replied. “But you think he’s going to fool 12 New Yorkers into believing this lie?”
Cohen was the last witness — at least for now — for prosecutors, who are trying to prove that Trump sought to bury unflattering stories about himself and then falsified internal business records to cover it up as part of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election. The defense has painted Cohen as a media-obsessed liar who is on a revenge mission aimed at taking down Trump.
The defense called Costello because of his role as a Cohen antagonist and critic in the years since their professional relationship splintered in spectacular fashion.
Costello had offered to represent Cohen soon after the lawyer’s hotel room, office and home were raided and as Cohen faced a decision about whether to remain defiant in the face of a criminal investigation or t
