Michael Cohen, former lawyer for Donald Trump, leaves his Manhattan home to testify in Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to hide money paid in 2016 to the Trump administration on May 20, 2024 in New York City Silence porn star Stormy Daniels.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Judge Juan Merchan dismissed members of the press from his courtroom on Monday to deliver a lesson in “decent decorum” after a witness called by Donald Trump’s lawyers made statements to the judge on the stand.
“Clear the courtroom!” Merchan said after warning the witness, attorney Robert Costello, about his repeated reactions to the judge supporting prosecutors’ objections.
“If you don’t like my decision, don’t say ‘Christ,'” Merchan told Costello before reporters were cleared from the room.
“You don’t give me a sideways glance or roll your eyes,” he said.
Prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers and his deputies were not required to leave the courtroom. Eric Trump, who was present in the courtroom, wrote on X that Merchan’s treatment of Costello was “truly disgraceful.”
Costello was the second witness called by the defense to begin his direct examination after the prosecution shelved its case. Prosecutors had called 20 witnesses over four weeks, culminating in dramatic testimony from Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer.
Before Costello was reprimanded on the witness stand, he discussed his interactions with Cohen after federal agents raided his office in April 2018.
Costello said that Cohen was “completely manic” after the raid and that he was looking for an “escape route.”
But when Costello told Cohen that his problems could be solved if he cooperated with a federal investigation into his then-boss, Cohen responded: “I swear to God, Bob, I have nothing against Donald Trump.”
Under cross-examination early Monday, Cohen admitted that he had stolen from Trump’s company by keeping money that had been given to him that should have gone to a tech entrepreneur hired to help rig a CNBC poll about famous people to help business people.
“You stole from the Trump Organization, right?” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Cohen at the former president’s hush money trial in New York.
Cohen replied, “Yes, sir.”
Cohen pocketed $30,000 of the $50,000 he received from the Trump Organization and then donated about $20,000 to the technology firm Red Finch, which previously worked for the Trump Organization, according to his testimony in the Supreme Court of Manhattan testified.
Cohen testified that while Red Finch’s owner would have preferred to receive the entire $50,000 owed to him, he was “appeased for now.”
After Blanche finished cross-examining Cohen, Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger had Cohen explain to the jury what Red Finch had done for Trump.
Cohen testified that he asked the contractor to help organize a CNBC poll of the most famous businessmen of the last century by obtaining Internet Protocol addresses to bolster Trump’s position in that poll.
In this courtroom sketch, Michael Cohen is accused by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger in the criminal case against former US President Donald Trump for falsifying business records to hide money he paid in 2016 to silence porn star Stormy Daniels. in Manhattan State Court in New York City, on May 20, 2024.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
Trump later refused to pay Red Finch because he was upset that CNBC did not continue the poll after he moved to ninth place in that poll.
Cohen said he pocketed $30,000 of the $50,000 he later allegedly received for Red Finch from the Trump Organization because he was “angry” that his bonus was for serving as Trump’s personal attorney had been shortened.
“It was almost like self-help,” Cohen testified.
Cohen is a key witness against Trump, having previously testified that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 presidential election to silence her about alleged sex with Trump a decade ago.
Prosecutors said Cohen would be their final witness in the trial.
Blanche is expected to complete his cross-examination on Monday. It’s unclear whether they will call Trump to the stand.
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Defense lawyers held off last week when Judge Juan Merchan asked whether they would even call defense witnesses to testify.
Last month, Trump told a reporter, “I would definitely testify.”
In this courtroom sketch, Michael Cohen is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger as part of a referral before Judge Juan Merchan as former US President Donald Trump looks on during Trump’s criminal trial in which he is accused of falsifying business records to hide funds, paid in 2016 for silencing porn star Stormy Daniels, on May 20, 2024, in Manhattan State Court in New York City.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
Merchan told prosecutors and the former president’s lawyers earlier Monday that closing arguments in the case would take place on May 28, the day after Memorial Day.
“It has become clear that we will not conclude tomorrow,” Merchan said as Trump looked on.
The judge last week ordered both sides to be ready to submit their summaries on Tuesday.
But Merchan said Monday he wanted to avoid a multi-day delay between closing arguments and the start of deliberations. The trial will not take place this Wednesday or Friday and would last half a day on Thursday due to a juror’s scheduling conflict.
Before entering the courtroom on Monday, Trump told reporters: “It looks like we’re going to have a very big gap between days.”
Former US President Donald Trump sits with his lawyer Todd Blanche (l) in the courtroom of the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on May 20, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Trump is accused of falsifying business records related to his and his company’s reimbursement to Cohen for the Daniels payout.
The former president denies having sex with Daniels, who previously testified in the trial.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is the first former president to face a criminal trial.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
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2024-05-20 20:49:23
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