Michael Cohen became obsessed with ‘revenge’ against Trump

Michael Cohen, the key witness in President Trump’s ongoing hush money trial, whose testimony has not yet been completed, is already accused of lying by the lawyer with whom he consulted extensively in 2018 as his legal situation deepened.

“I read Michael Cohen’s testimony about yesterday’s trial in New York while on the train, and virtually every statement he made about me is another lie,” attorney Robert Costello said in an appearance at Capitol on Wednesday Hill for the House of Representatives session. Select Subcommittee on Federal Government Armaments.

Mr. Costello provided legal advice to Cohen in 2018, when Cohen became entangled in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation targeting Mr. Trump. After the Wall Street Journal reported on a potentially illegal $130,000 hush money payment that Cohen paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, FBI agents, acting on a criminal referral from Mr. Mueller, raided Cohen’s home and offices in April 2018.

Cohen described the raid during his testimony. He was staying in a hotel because his apartment was flooded when the FBI knocked on his door early in the morning.

“At seven in the morning there’s a knock on the door and I look through the peephole and see a lot of people in the hallway. I saw a badge… they identified themselves to the FBI,” Cohen said. He further testified that he felt scared and “worried. Despondent. Angry.”

According to his testimony, Cohen immediately left a message for Mr. Trump. And the then-president called him back, Cohen said.

“I received a call from President Trump in response to me leaving a message for him to call,” Cohen testified. “Obviously I wanted him to know what was going on. He said don’t worry, I’m the president of the United States. There’s nothing here. Everything will be fine. Stay tough. You will be fine.” This was the last time he spoke to Mr. Trump, Cohen said.

But Mr. Costello would serve as a conduit between Mr. Cohen and the White House, where Mr. Trump’s lawyers struggled with Mr. Mueller’s investigators. The relationship between Mr. Costello and Cohen eventually deteriorated, in part because of unpaid legal bills, as Cohen’s legal troubles grew. In subsequent years, Mr. Costello, who also represented Rudolph Giuliani, tried to undermine Cohen’s credibility.

“Now, after going to prison, Michael Cohen is on a revenge tour because he blames Donald Trump for the loss of his law license and the fact that he did indeed go to prison,” Costello said at the hearing, adding that Cohen said of him that he “conspired to obstruct justice by pardoning him to keep his mouth shut about Donald Trump.” Mr Costello added: “That was completely false and utter nonsense.”

Cohen, who worked for Trump from 2006 to 2018, was suspended after pleading guilty to lying to Congress, campaign finance violations, tax evasion and other charges, all related to his work for Trump, who was targeted by prosecutors. Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison and three years of supervised release, serving 13.5 months behind bars and a year and a half of house arrest on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Today, Cohen is still on probation. He asked the court for parole three times, but was denied each time.

In 2018, Cohen was accused, among other things, of making a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. This issue is at the heart of the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg against Mr. Trump, who is currently being tried in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Ms. Clifford claims she had a one-time sexual encounter with Mr. Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2006. Mr. Trump denies the allegation. The prosecutor accuses Mr. Trump of directing Cohen to pay Ms. Clifford the $130,000 on the eve of the 2016 election so that she would sign a non-disclosure agreement banning her from sharing her story. The plaintiff further alleges that Mr. Trump reimbursed Cohen after he won the presidency by fraudulently disguising the payments as legal fees.

Testifying for the prosecution on Monday and Tuesday, Cohen described in detail how this hush money payment was part of a larger scheme, devised by Mr. Trump, David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, and Cohen, to sway public opinion through bad press about eliminating Mr. Trump. Cohen told jurors that Mr. Trump personally instructed him to pay Ms. Clifford.

But on Wednesday, Mr. Costello told Congress that Mr. Trump was not actually involved in the payment to Ms. Clifford. Instead, he said, Cohen acted alone and wanted to protect Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania, and his own wife.

“He focused on Melania Trump. He said: ‘I didn’t want to embarrass Melania Trump.’ He said, “That’s why I decided to handle this myself,” Mr. Costello testified on Capitol Hill, adding that Cohen said he didn’t want anyone to know where he got the money. ‘I didn’t want Melania to know. I didn’t want my wife to know,” Cohen said, according to Mr. Costello’s testimony.

Mr. Costello also told Congress that Cohen had sworn to him that he had “nothing on Donald Trump,” and that “Cohen must have said this at least ten times because I kept coming back to it from different approaches.”

But on the witness stand in Manhattan, Cohen portrayed Mr. Costello as “really vague and wrong” when the prosecutor asked him about their relationship. After the FBI raid, Cohen told the jury, Mr. Costello emailed him telling him not to worry. The email, which was shown in court, said: “Sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places.” Cohen explained that this was a direct reference to then-President Trump, who had the power to pardon him.

Mr. Costello, Cohen said on the witness stand, offered to represent him in 2018, saying it would be “very helpful to you moving forward with this case.” The jury was shown another April 2018 email from Mr. Costello to Cohen, informing Cohen that Mr. Guiliani had also joined Trump’s legal team — which was handling the same federal investigation that ensnared Cohen lured – and would also help get Cohen out. its legal mess.

“I’m sure you’ve seen the news that Rudy is joining Trump’s legal team,” the email read. “I told you my relationship with Rudy, which could be very useful to you,”

Cohen explained what he called “the concept of the backchannel.” Mr. Costello would communicate with Mr. Guiliani, who would then communicate with Mr. Trump. He testified that Mr. Costello pressured him to “stay in the fold,” which meant staying loyal and not turning on Mr. Trump.

In the summer of 2018, Cohen testified, Mr. Trump waged a “pressure campaign” against him through Mr. Costello.

“You are making a very big mistake if you believe the stories that these ‘journalists’ write about you. They want you to collapse. They want you to fail. They don’t want you to keep it and succeed,” Costello wrote in an email to Cohen, which prosecutors presented to the jury. “If you really feel that you are not being properly supported by your former boss, then you should make your position known.”

Cohen told the court this meant, “Don’t turn around. Do not speak. Don’t cooperate.”

When Cohen decided not to hire Mr. Costello and talk to other lawyers, Mr. Costello became upset. Cohen testified, saying that Mr. Costello “again put pressure on me as he had done by constantly calling me and sending me emails and so forth. He absolutely wanted to be retained to represent me in this case. He was angry that I was willing to sit down with another lawyer but not them, so I had had enough.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Costello strongly disagreed, saying, “If they’re saying I was trying to silence Michael Cohen, it’s the exact opposite. I told him that first day: here’s your escape route. If you have truthful information but he doesn’t.”

The question is: How can the defense use Mr. Costello’s testimony during Thursday’s trial? They can ask Cohen if he is aware of Wednesday’s congressional hearing. But he can simply say: that is not so. Any further reference to Mr Costello’s statements would be considered hearsay in court unless the defense has text messages or emails to substantiate Mr Costello’s claims. But if such emails do indeed exist, the prosecutor has seen them too. The defense could call Mr. Costello as a witness, but then the prosecutor could also cross-examine him.

Either way, Cohen’s testimony on Thursday will likely lead to a fierce battle between the lawyers. After Mr. Trump’s lawyer completes his questioning, Cohen will most likely face another round of questioning from the prosecutor, which could then be followed by another cross-examination by the defense, and another round by prosecutors. This intense back and forth can last for hours — which is what happened when Mr. Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified two weeks ago.

At stake is Cohen’s credibility and the crucial question of whether Mr. Trump was personally involved in the hush money payment or not.