#robertcostello — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #robertcostello, aggregated by home.social.
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Prosecutors have argued that a lawyer named #RobertCostello was dispatched to keep #MichaelCohen loyal. Costello was the only substantive witness called by the defense, & his appearance was nutso 🦇💩
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/20/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial-robert-costello.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb -
#Hoffinger, in a brief, final series of questions & answers, again confirms that #RobertCostello was never officially hired as #MichaelCohen’s lawyer. Costello steps down from the witness stand.
Justice #Merchan turns to the #jury & explains the upcoming schedule. Closing arguments will take a day & his instructions to them afterward will take at least an hour.
Court will be adjourned, for jurors, until a week from today.
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#Hoffinger’s final question is an accusation: whether #RobertCostello’s testimony to Congress was meant to #intimidate #MichaelCohen as he testified in this trial. Costello asked her to repeat the question & then denied the accusation. “No,” he said. “Ridiculous.”
#Trump atty #Bove, is on redirect. Costello testifies that Cohen said in April 2018 that he would be “eternally grateful” for the help & guidance that Costello had given him in those difficult days.
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#RobertCostello answers “no” when asked if he has animosity toward #MichaelCohen 😂. #Hoffinger points out that Costello went to Washington last week to testify before Congress about Cohen, & made aggressive comments about him. Costello says he didn’t know his comments would be reported in the press [seriously?].
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#RobertCostello has asked several times to offer additional context, & Susan #Hoffinger has made clear she does not want that context, cutting him off & moving to her next question. In doing so, Hoffinger shows that she believes she has the jury on her side after the way Costello treated her & the court yesterday.
#Trump atty, Emil #Bove just insisted there was a “pending question” from Hoffinger when there wasn’t, forcing Justice #Merchan to once again correct him.
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#Hoffinger asks #RobertCostello if an email in which he offers to provide a “back channel” between #Trump & #MichaelCohen “speaks for itself” [Costello used the phrase while #mansplaining to her yesterday].
Costello says it does not because there was more context, & offers to provide that context.
“That’s all right,” Hoffinger says, moving on to her next question. 😊
#misogyny #criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
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#RobertCostello’s attitude is already *brusque* under cross-examination from #Hoffinger.
Hoffinger asks Costello about his relationship w/ #RudyGiuliani.
Costello confirms that he is close to #Giuliani & has known him for 50 yrs. Costello & his law firm recently sued Giuliani for unpaid legal bills.
👀 Hoffinger reads an email Costello sent to #MichaelCohen in which he described his relationship w/Giuliani as potentially being “very useful to you.”
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#SebastianGorka, Trump’s fmr White House *adviser*, walks in w/ a silver case bearing what appears to be a presidential seal.
With his legal team & Secret Service agents in the mix, #Trump’s group numbers more than two dozen. #WitnessIntimidation #JuryTampering
#RobertCostello is on the stand.
Justice Merchan reminds him that he’s under oath.#Hoffinger, one of the prosecution’s leaders, is expected to continue her cross-examination of Costello.
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The judge tells the jurors that we will stop for the day, & begins to excuse them.
Susan #Hoffinger asks that #RobertCostello be reminded that he is not meant to interact w/either party while still on the stand. But Justice #Merchan says he doesn’t normally give that instruction & allows Costello to step down. Hoffinger says she has ~45 mins of questions left for Costello.
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney
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#RobertCostello attacks #Hoffinger as she questions him.
He keeps correcting her tiny misstatements, like when she described him as a fmr “chief” of a criminal division rather than a “deputy chief”.
He took issue w/her use of the term “raid” when she referred to the FBI executing a search warrant against #MichaelCohen.
He just instructed her to talk into the microphone.
Note: There are 5 women on the jury.
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#Hoffinger shows #RobertCostello an email he sent to his own son. The email says “I will be on the team,” & it quotes #MichaelCohen as saying that he would be “eternally grateful” to have him.
Costello told his son that he did not know when the announcement would be made. His son responded: "Wow. That’s big news. Congrats Dad. I hope this leads to a lot of good things coming your way.”
[oops]
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics
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#RobertCostello pauses before he answers even the simplest questions from prosecutor #Hoffinger. She asks if #MichaelCohen, as the president’s lawyer, would have been a high-profile client for him. “Would it be a big win for you & your firm?” Hoffinger asks. “I would say no,” Costello responds. Hoffinger asks Costello if he would announce Cohen as a client on his website. Costello says he’s not sure what the firm would do.
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Susan #Hoffinger is a former defense lawyer & therefore is comfortable w/ cross-examination [unlike #Blanche]. She grills #RobertCostello about what he told #MichaelCohen as he was seeking to provide #legal advice. She says that Costello extolled his famous clients in an email to Cohen.
Costello insists that it was his partner, Jeff Citron, who had the relationship w/Cohen, & he met w/him because his partner made the arrangement. “It was Jeff Citron’s client, not mine,” he says.
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Prosecutor #Hoffinger is on cross-examination #RobertCostello for the prosecution.
Hoffinger gets under Costello’s skin quickly. “The email speaks for itself,” he keeps saying when asked about an email exchange between his law partner & Cohen.
Costello is now scolding Hoffinger for getting his past title wrong. (This guy is a shit show)
#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics
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#RobertCostello’s is showing his obvious dislike of #MichaelCohen.
He testifies that w/respect to #StormyDaniels, Cohen said “numerous times” that #Trump “knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own.”
Prosecutor #Hoffinger objects to many of Emil #Bove's questions, often being sustained by #Merchan.Costello is ignoring the judge’s rulings, so Justice Merchan warned him directly to wait for a ruling before answering.