{"id":2248954,"date":"2024-05-20T18:03:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T22:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-merchan-and-defense-witness-clash-amid-judges-question-limitations\/"},"modified":"2024-05-20T18:06:14","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T22:06:14","slug":"trump-trial-merchan-and-defense-witness-clash-amid-judges-question-limitations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-merchan-and-defense-witness-clash-amid-judges-question-limitations\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump trial: Conflict between Merchan and defense witness over judge&#8217;s questioning restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-trial-merchan-and-defense-witness-clash-amid-judges-question-limitations%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2248954&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In New\u200c York, Judge Juan Merchan clashed with a defense witness brought \u2062in by Donald Trump&#8217;s \u2062team\u200c for\u200c the \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-sets-date-for-trumps-hush-money-trial-and-the-timing-could-heavily-impact-the-2024-election\/\" title=\"Trial date set for Trump's hush money case, with potential impact on 2024 election\">hush money\u2062 trial<\/a>. The \u200dwitness, Robert Costello, irked Merchan with his \u200dreactions to\u200b the judge&#8217;s \u200brulings, prompting Merchan \u200bto clear the courtroom briefly. Costello&#8217;s exasperation \u2064stemmed from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/viral-video-amber-heard-ignores-judge-and-rushes-out-of-courtroom-after-disastrous-testimony-redirect\/\" title=\"Viral Video: Amber Heard Ignores Judge And Rushes Out Of Courtroom After Disastrous Testimony, Redirect\">sustained objections<\/a> and excessive elaboration in responses, \u2064leading to a tense courtroom atmosphere. In New York, during the hush money trial, tensions rose as\u2064 Judge Juan Merchan confronted a defense witness, Robert Costello, brought\u2062 in by Donald Trump&#8217;s team. \u200bCostello&#8217;s responses to the judge&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/thursday-afternoon-update-affirmative-action-ruling-riots-in-france-texas-bishop-investigated-by-the-vatican\/\" title=\"Latest News: Affirmative Action Ruling, France Riots, Vatican Investigates Texas Bishop\">rulings led<\/a> \u200bto a \u200bbrief courtroom\u2064 clearing by Merchan, highlighting the\u200c escalating conflict and \u2064courtroom dynamics.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>NEW YORK<\/strong> <strong>\u2014<\/strong> Judge Juan Merchan became irate at a witness <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s defense team brought in to testify in the former president\u2019s hush money <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>trial<\/a> on Monday, claiming the witness was reacting inappropriately to the judge\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Merchan pointed out that Robert Costello said \u201cgeez\u201d in response to one of the judge\u2019s rulings and that Costello offered to strike his own response from the record. Merchan said he also noticed Costello roll his eyes and give him \u201cside eye\u201d at one point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a witness on the stand, you don\u2019t say \u2018geez.\u2019 \u2026 You don\u2019t give me side eye,\u201d Merchan said.<\/p>\n<p>Merchan then abruptly yelled, \u201cClear the courtroom!\u201d It was unclear exactly what prompted Merchan\u2019s outrage, but after a few minutes of Merchan talking alone with the witness and attorneys, the trial resumed and the jury returned.<\/p>\n<p>Trump attorney Emil Bove led the questioning of Costello, a New York-based attorney of five decades who once advised Michael Cohen.<\/p>\n<p>Costello\u2019s reactions of exasperation at Merchan had been prompted by the judge sustaining repeated objections from the prosecution. Merchan also at one point admonished Costello for elaborating too much in his responses and struck some of them from the record.<\/p>\n<p>Bove initially asked to call Costello to counter testimony from Cohen. Cohen said while testifying in the trial last week that Costello advised him for a couple of months beginning in April 2018, just as the Department of Justice was beginning to prosecute Cohen. Cohen claimed from the witness stand that Costello, who had ties to Trump through Trump\u2019s then-attorney Rudy Giuliani, had dangled a pardon in front of Cohen at the time and pressured him not to implicate Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Bove told Merchan he wanted Costello to have an opportunity to dispute this point, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-now-calling-for-action-against-voting-irregularities-trying-to-close-house-races-they-lost\/\" title=\"Democrats now calling for action against voting irregularities, trying to close House races they lost\">prosecutors claimed<\/a> that a witness attempting to discredit another witness was against the rules, and they objected to Costello testifying at all.<\/p>\n<p>Merchan partly denied prosecutors\u2019 request. The judge allowed Costello to testify, but only under severely limited terms, resulting in Bove continuously running into roadblocks as he attempted to question Costello about his experiences with Cohen.<\/p>\n<p>While Costello could say little during the trial, he also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3004761\/michael-cohen-lawyer-accuses-lying-trump-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>testified<\/a> last week before the House Judiciary Committee and excoriated Cohen for allegedly perjuring himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI read Michael Cohen\u2019s testimony from yesterday\u2019s trial in New York on the way down on the train, and virtually every statement he made about me is another lie,\u201d Costello told the committee.<\/p>\n<p>One point Costello made to the committee that he was also able to make to jurors on Monday was that he recalled Cohen saying he had no evidence Trump did anything wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own,\u201d Costello said. \u201cAnd he repeated that numerous times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>Costello\u2019s testimony centered largely on the first meeting he had with Cohen, which took place on April 17, 2018, at the Loews Regency Hotel in Manhattan.<\/p>\n<p>Costello emphasized how nervous and \u201cmanic\u201d Cohen appeared. He said he told Cohen that if Cohen had any negative information about Trump, he should bring it forward to the DOJ to help his prospects of avoiding prison. Costello\u2019s testimony suggested Cohen would have said he had damning information about Trump at that point if he truly had any.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In New York, Judge Juan Merchan expressed frustration with a defense witness in Donald Trump&#8217;s trial for hush money. Merchan criticized the witness, Robert Costello, for his reaction to the judge&#8217;s rulings, noting Costello&#8217;s expression of &#8220;geez.&#8221; The clash highlighted tensions over the judge&#8217;s limitations on questioning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2248955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24141480247736.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2248954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24141480247736.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2248954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2248955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2248954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2248954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2248954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}