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The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s ongoing hush money trial on Monday berated one of the former president’s witnesses for heckling the verdict, clearing the courtroom for journalists to further reprimand the witness.
The witness, attorney Robert Costello, was called by the defense to attack the credibility of the prosecution’s key witness, Michael Cohen.
But the Nassau County-based lawyer repeatedly expressed anger at being interrupted by the judge for challenging the charges, at one point muttering “wow” and “ridiculous.”
Within minutes of taking the witness stand, Mr. Costello openly confronted New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Mercian, who is presiding over the case.
“Mr. Costello, I would like to discuss proper etiquette in the courtroom, is that okay?” Mr. Marchand began after the jurors were removed from the courtroom.
“So when I have a witness on the stand, if you don’t like my verdict, don’t say ‘well,’ okay?” the judge scolded.
“I’m not going to say, ‘Strike me,’ because I’m the only one in the courtroom who can testify,” the judge told the witness.
“And if you don’t like my sentence, don’t side eye me or roll your eyes,” the judge added.
“Do you understand?” the judge asked Costello. “Do you understand?” the judge repeated.
“I understand that. I understand what you’re saying,” Costello responded.
But Costello also glared at the judge. “Are you staring at me now?” the judge asked him angrily.
“Clear the courtroom!” the judge ordered. “Clear the courtroom!”
The uproar erupted on a busy court day when the prosecution took a break, the defense began its case, and a revised schedule for the remainder of the trial was revealed.
Closing arguments and the start of deliberations have been postponed to the Tuesday after Memorial Day.
“That was unbelievable behavior,” Trump later told reporters on his way home that day, calling Marchan a “tyrant.”
Costello seemed ‘scared’ as judge threatened to hold him in contempt
The judge yelled, “Get out of the courtroom!” It set off a chain reaction of loud noises in the courtroom.
Court officials shouted and asked journalists to leave, as many reporters shouted in protest. Lawyers and front-row aides for the defense and prosecution were allowed to remain.
Robert Ballin, a lawyer representing a coalition of media organizations including Business Insider, also protested, but was pulled by the arm by court officials and removed from the room.
The video and audio supply to the court’s overflow room, the second courtroom where media and members of the public watch the trial on a screen, was cut off.
Judge Juan Marchan (left) criticizes witness Robert Costello’s “decency” in a Manhattan criminal courtroom.
Elizabeth Williams (via Associated Press)
Alan Dershowitz, Trump’s guest who remained in the courtroom that day, told Business Insider that Marchan remained “furious” but that after cleaning up the room, he told Business Insider that he had “made a mistake.” He said he noticed that.
“It really just showed how thin-skinned he is,” Dershowitz said.
Mr. Dershowitz has criticized the Manhattan district attorney’s case, and Mr. Trump has frequently promoted his column at news conferences in the courthouse hallway. Dershowitz said Monday’s episode showed Marchand’s bias against Trump.
“He just lost his cool. He lost his temper. I think he was remorseful,” Dershowitz said. “But his true attitude toward Trump was clear.”
The witness said he was “scared” as the judge dressed Costello, not noticing that he was rolling his eyes at Marchand.
“I mean, I rolled my eyes when he made some of the rulings, but I didn’t see him roll his eyes,” Dershowitz said. “So he was scared. Obviously he didn’t want to be disrespected. He didn’t want his testimony to be quashed.”
Less than five minutes later, the journalists were brought back into the courtroom and questioning by Trump’s lawyer, Emile Bove, resumed.
Recordings released Monday night showed that Marchan called Costello’s conduct “disparaging” while reporters were not in the room.
Marchan also threatened to remove Costello from the stand and order his testimony removed from the record if he “try to stare me down one more time.”
“Can I say something?” Costello asked.
“No,” the judge answered. “No, this is not a conversation.”
Costello did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
The judge limited what Costello could testify about.
Prior to Costello’s testimony, Marchan had issued a ruling that limited what Costello could testify about.
Mr. Cohen, the prosecution’s key witness, previously testified that Mr. Costello was part of Mr. Trump’s “pressure campaign” to prevent him from rebelling against him in 2018. Mr. Costello served as a “back channel” to Mr. Trump through his lawyer friend Rudy Giuliani, Mr. Cohen said.
Trump’s legal team hoped to use Costello’s testimony to cast doubt on Cohen’s credibility with respect to this “pressure campaign.”
But Marchan said Trump’s lawyer, Bove, can only elicit testimony from Costello about earlier contradictory statements Cohen may have made about a limited number of meetings and calls. said.
The judge ordered that Bove could not incite a “trial within a trial” by asking Costello questions that went beyond this narrow topic.
Bo asked such a question anyway. Mr. Machan repeatedly called a press conference over the objections of prosecutors, but reporters were unable to hear it.
And Costello repeatedly ignored the judge and tried to answer questions that were successfully refuted.
At one point, when the judge told her not to answer questions, Costello could be heard saying “ridiculous” and letting out a heavy sigh from the witness stand.
Former President Donald Trump introduces columns supporting him while addressing journalists in the hallway of a courtroom.
Mark Peterson – Pool/Getty Images
In his testimony, Mr. Costello corroborated the story of Mr. Trump’s lawyers that Mr. Cohen paid hush money to Stormy Daniels on his own without Mr. Trump’s knowledge.
“Michael Cohen has said many times that President Trump knows nothing about these payments,” Costello said. “He did this himself. And he did this over and over again.”
Mr. Costello has frequently criticized the Manhattan district attorney’s case against Mr. Trump.
Last week, he spoke to a Republican-controlled House committee about the “weaponization of government,” echoing President Trump’s claims that the incident was politically motivated.
The trial will continue with the defense’s case Tuesday morning. Costello was the second witness.
The defense called a paralegal who worked for Blanche to the stand and began the case directly. Paralegal Daniel Sitko presented jurors with a spreadsheet showing that Cohen initiated the majority of the calls between Cohen and Costello in May and June 2018 during the alleged pressure campaign. Indicated.
Dershowitz told Business Insider that if Marchan had chosen to remove Costello’s testimony from the record, the day’s chaos would have been a victory for Trump.
“I think it would have been best if Mr. Trump had been held in contempt and had his testimony withdrawn,” Dershowitz said. “I think the appellate court would have seriously considered it.
This story has been updated.