By Nick Arama | 11:00 PM on March 20, 2023
AP Photo/Alex Brandon As we reported on Sunday, the Trump indictment that has been reported wasn’t quite a done deal yet, as there was one more witness they had to hear from on Monday – Robert Costello. Costello is the former legal adviser for Michael Cohen. Cohen is one of the two key witnesses in the case, along with Stormy Daniels. Both have serious credibility issues.
Costello’s testimony further decimated any case that the Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg may have thought he ever had.
Costello said that Michael Cohen has “far from solid evidence.” Costello said he used to be Deputy Chief in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, so he would know. Costello said he “never would have touched a guy” like Cohen (as a witness) because he was a convicted perjurer. Not to mention all the other lies that he told them that are in the emails that were being discussed, Costello said.
Costello ripped Cohen as a liar.
“There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Michael Cohen has great difficulty telling the truth,” Costello said. “He is, after all a convicted perjurer, and our track record with Mr. Cohen convinced us that he was a serial liar.”Costello said that the prosecution wanted to ask him limited questions about six emails but that he managed to force the fact that Cohen said he hadn’t told Trump he made the payments to Stormy Daniels into an answer, presumably because the prosecution didn’t want the grand jury to hear it. But it sounds like he did get it in there.
Costello also told Tucker Carlson what Michael Cohen said about doing anything he had to, to stay out of jail.
He explained Cohen said he hadn’t waived the attorney-client privilege. Costello then pulled out his waiver and said, “Is this the kind of witness you want to ride to the finish line?” just completely doing Cohen in.
Trump not knowing about the payment is one more thing that should end this case if this wasn’t a completely political effort. It’s one of the reasons it never should have been pursued, to begin with. So we’ll have to see if the New York bias and the DA’s persuasion prevail, or whether the truth wins out. Costello did say that some of the members of the grand jury seemed to be getting it and as a former Deputy Chief he might have some experience to assess that. But it’s clear, given what Costello said, that Bragg’s office isn’t particularly interested in showing the truth to the grand jury.
As we’ve reported, this is just the latest problem in the case. As federal prosecutors and the FEC, both had previously declined to pursue any actions against Trump. Even Bragg when he first came into office had refused to proceed. We only see the case now that we’re approaching 2024 with Trump as a declared candidate. Given all the problems in the case, it’s clear that it’s just a shameful political effort to try to do in Trump. They’re trying to throw everything they can at him to try to incapacitate him
