Posted on 05/16/2024 5:20:45 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s ex-lawyer told lawmakers during a House Committee hearing Wednesday that Cohen admitted in 2018 that he had concocted the hush-money scheme himself and had no incriminating evidence against then-President Donald Trump.
The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government held a hearing Wednesday to examine “the use of lawfare tactics to weaponize the rule of law.”
In prepared testimony before the Select Subcommittee, prominent New York defense attorney Robert Costello alleged that Cohen told him that he didn’t “have anything on Donald Trump,” but he would do “whatever the f-ck I have to do” to not “spend one day in jail.”
Cohen, a disbarred lawyer and convicted perjurer, is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Brag’s “star” witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York City.
Costello alleged that Cohen repeatedly insisted that Trump had done nothing wrong while federal prosecutors in Manhattan were investigating whether Trump violated any election laws in 2016.
Costello, the former deputy chief of the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office’ criminal division, said the office closed the case “because they assessed that Michael Cohen, the so-called star witness, was totally unworthy of belief.”
Costello said that he assured Cohen, who was suicidal at the time, that he could get a deal from federal prosecutors if he delivered provable dirt on Trump.
“Each time Cohen said to me: ‘I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,’” Costello’s prepared testimony states. “Cohen must have said this at least ten times because I kept coming back to it from different approaches.
Throughout the two-hour interview, according to Costello’s testimony, Cohen made clear that this payment to porn star Stormy Daniels was his own idea, “designed to try and get him back into the inner circle of Trump people in Washington.”
Cohen told his defense team in 2018 that he concocted the scheme to take out a home equity loan to pay Daniels $130,000 in return for her silence about the alleged affair, which Trump continues to deny ever took place. Cohen told his lawyers that the former president didn’t know about the details about the scheme.
“When asked if Trump had any knowledge of this, Cohen told me no,” Costello said in his statement. “When asked whether Cohen got the $130,000 from Trump or any Trump entity or friend, Cohen again said no.
“When asked if this was from Cohen’s own money, Cohen said no,” Costello added. “He was asked where, then, did he get the money and Cohen explained he took out a HELOC Loan because he didn’t want anybody to know where the money came from.”
Cohen told his defense team in 2018 that he arranged the hush money deal because he saw it as “a way to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump and save embarrassment for Melania because he knew that Donald Trump was very concerned about not doing anything to embarrass Melania,” according to Costello.
The attorney recalled that he said to Cohen at one point: “Michael, now is the time to tell the truth and cooperate if you want your legal problems to disappear.”
Cohen would again reply: “I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump.”
Costello said that after going to jail, Cohen went on “a revenge tour because he blamed Donald Trump for the loss of his law license and the fact that he did go to jail.”
“The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York saw this and acted properly,” he added.
“After that, the U.S. Attorney’s Office never dealt with Cohen again, having concluded, rightly, that he was a habitual liar and totally unreliable witness,” Costello continued. “That office chose to not bring any charges against President Trump. Clearly the correct decision. But the same cannot be said for the for the New York District Attorney’s Office.”
Alvin Bragg “took a different route to become famous and to ‘get’ Trump,” Costello said, adding that “Michael Cohen is simply not a credible man.”
Throughout the time that we were providing legal advice to Michael Cohen, he lied repeatedly both about consequential and inconsequential details. Whenever it suited his purposes, Michael Cohen showed no hesitation to lie. The pattern is consistent that Cohen lies when he thinks it is to his own advantage but tells the truth when it is to Michael Cohen’s own advantage. It was clearly to Cohen’s own advantage if he had truthful information about Donald Trump to cooperate and reveal that information to aid himself by eliminating Cohen’s own major legal problems that were causing him to consider suicide.
Costello’s account obliterates the Manhattan D.A.’s argument that Trump “orchestrated” the whole scheme to deceive voters in 2016. Directly contradicting his claims in 2018, Cohen testified in the trial this week that he acted on the instructions of Trump when he made the payment.
The attorney also testified that Bragg’s indictment was riddled with legal issues and will likely be reversed if there is a jury conviction.
if it exists, you’d have thought it would have been presented already in the trial
Reimbursement was long after Cohen and Ms Stormy hatched and incubated the deal.
Costello does have a legal responsibility to inform the Court if he has direct knowledge of criminal actions.
However, if Costello was retained as a criminal defense attorney by Cohen, then attorney-client privilege really complicates the issue.
I will guess that Costello, testifying under a Congressional subpoena, might be exempt from attorney-client privilege.
Regardless, Trump's lawyers are entitled to ask Cohen about his conversations with Costello.
Lots of, "Did you tell Mr. Costello..." questions.
Unless the Trump judge blocks that.
Has the defense asked him to testify?
if it exists, you’d have thought it would have been presented already in the trial
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https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/trump-hush-money-trial/jury-hears-secret-recording-of-trump-discussing-payment-110175724?id=110153195
https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/90h1zb/michael_cohen_secretly_taped_trump_discussing/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J4obyrdbMg
Don’t know if it’s been presented at trial
Costello indicated on Fox that he had not been subpoenaed, and was not scheduled to testify - yet. He seemed to leave the door open.
That’s good. But what’s better is him on the stand at the first opportunity.
Reimbursement was long after Cohen and Ms Stormy hatched and incubated the deal.
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I understand that, but isn’t that what this whole sham case is about? Book keeping and not the deal itself, since that’s not illegal.
I think their discussion was about cash vs check, not whether or not it was legal expense. President Trump wouldn’t post the entry into accounting.
“Why didn’t he say something earlier - like to Trump’s defense team months ago...?”
I don’t know that he DIDN’T inform the defense team of this months earlier.
This came out in public because he has now testified to a House Committee and both he and the committee are very free in sharing it...
Unless the courtroom proceedings have been totally private, you’d think we would have heard about this earlier as Trump’s defense team should known about this and would have brought it up. It’s big. And then called on Costello as a defense witness. Sure, better late than never but why now in Committee testimony and not in the trial? Is it the defense team or Costello?
Jonathan Turley was just on Brian Kilmeade’s program and he said that Costello has spoken publicly about this before, so it was known (not to yours truly and most others by any means). He may not have been brought to testify because he has an association with Rudy Giuliani on the case of Trump, so his testimony may open a nasty can of worms for the prosecution to wade into. Plus, somehow, the Defense has introduced Costello’s accounting of events, by way of asking Cohen if he remembered telling Costello that Trump was utterly clean, etc., and Cohen ..... ta, da, didn’t recall. Turley thinks the defense has made enough of a case to not need Costello, but may call him if an appeal is necessary.
Ok, thanks. At least it’s been addressed in trial but it seems too big to let this go on and not bring in Costello himself as a defense witness. This farce needs to end ASAP.
BTTT
I believe that COHEN is a VINDICTIVE LITTLE PERSO——AND TOTALLY NOT TRUSTWORTHY
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