Lawyers for Donald Trump dropped their case on Tuesday without calling him to testify in the first criminal trial of a former president — and after a defense witness got into a heated argument with one of the prosecutors.
Trump had said before the trial that he would “absolutely” testify. ‘I testify. I’m telling the truth. I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there is not a single case,” he said on April 12, although he had since softened his position. His attorney Alina Habba, who represented Trump in his civil trials but not in the criminal case, told Fox News on Monday that Trump “wants to testify … he is absolutely willing to tell the truth.”
Jurors will not hear closing arguments until May 28 due to conflicts with jury schedules and the Memorial Day holiday.
Robert Costello, a lawyer who has clashed with Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen — and who was scolded by the judge overseeing the hush money case for disrespectful behavior on the witness stand — was the final witness in the trial, which began April 22 witness statements.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger continued her cross-examination of Costello by asking about his first meeting with Cohen in April 2018, when a panicked Cohen considered hiring him after federal prosecutors served search warrants at his home and office and seized his phones. Hoffinger asked if Costello touted his ties to Trump ally Rudy Giuliani during the meeting, where they discussed Costello possibly representing Cohen. Costello replied that this was not true.
Hoffinger then showed him an email he had sent Cohen two days after their first meeting. “I’m sure you’ve seen the news that Rudy is joining Trump’s legal team. I told you that my relationship with Rudy could be very helpful to you,” the email said.
He later sent Cohen another email saying: ‘I spoke to Rudy, very positive, you are ‘loved’. If you want to call me I will give you the details.” He also told Cohen, “Sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places.”
When asked by Hoffinger if “friends” was a reference to Trump, Costello acknowledged that it was. Costello became visibly frustrated because the prosecutor would not allow him to explain some of his answers. “Like you said yesterday, the email speaks for itself, right?” Hoffinger said. “Sometimes,” Costello replied.
Hoffinger then asked Costello about an email in which he appeared to force Cohen not to listen to calls for cooperation, which Costello denied. She asked him if he thought Cohen was “playing” him and Trump, and he said he didn’t. She then showed an email Costello had sent to another lawyer, in which he wrote: “What should I say to this one…? He’s playing with the most powerful man on earth.”
Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, stripped Costello on the witness stand in Manhattan on Monday for his facial expressions and snide comments. Merchan was so outraged by Costello’s behavior that he asked the jury to leave and then ordered the courtroom cleared of journalists and the public before reprimanding Costello.
“I would like to advise you that your conduct is contemptuous. If you attempt to stare at me again, I will remove you from the witness stand” and expunge his testimony from the record, Merchan said.
Costello was one of two witnesses the defense called Monday after prosecutors rested their case. The other was a paralegal who worked for Trump attorney Todd Blanche, who testified in 2018 about phone conversations between Costello and Cohen.
Costello testified that Cohen told him that Trump was unaware of the $130,000 hush money payment he made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign. Cohen testified during his four days on the witness stand that he lied to Costello because he didn’t trust him, in part because he was Giuliani.
Cohen and Costello have repeatedly publicly mocked each other in the years since. “If they want to go after Donald Trump and they have solid evidence, then so be it. But Michael Cohen is far from solid evidence,” Costello told reporters after testifying before the grand jury in the case last year. “He is completely unreliable,” Costello said at the time.
At the end of the court hearing, Trump attorney Emil Bove told Merchan that the defense had no other witnesses after Costello, but that was subject to change. When asked before the trial began whether he would take a stand in his own defense, Trump said he “absolutely” would, but that answer has softened in the weeks since, with Trump saying he would testify “if necessary” .
Cohen was the last witness called by District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office in Manhattan and prosecutors’ twentieth witness overall. Under questioning by Blanche, Cohen acknowledged Monday that he had defrauded Trump and his company of $30,000.
When asked if he “stole from the Trump Organization,” Cohen replied: “Yes sir.”
Under cross-examination, Cohen said he did this because he was “angry” that Trump had cut his annual bonus in 2016. “It was almost like self-help,” he said.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying company records in connection with the Daniels payment.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
