Key Trump Witness Confirms Damning Hush Money Emails
A string of emails sent by attorney Robert Costello appear to have undercut the witness’s credibility just moments before Donald Trump’s first criminal trial concluded for the day.
Costello had previously represented Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, and had allegedly offered a backchannel mode of communication between the former president and his former fixer (and current star defense witness) Michael Cohen in 2018.
But on Tuesday, the former federal prosecutor got caught up in a web of his own making and was forced to admit to mob-like tactics that undercut the defense’s core argument.
In one message from that year, Costello complained to his law partner Jeff Citron that Cohen was not cooperating, believing instead that Cohen was “slow playing us and the president.”
“What should I say to this asshole?” Costello wrote. “He’s playing with the most powerful man on the planet.”
“This email speaks for itself?” asked prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.
“Yes, it does,” Costello told the court.
“You lost control of Michael Cohen?” Hoffinger continued.
“Absolutely not,” Costello replied.
In another 2018 message between Costello and Citron, the Giuliani attorney wrote that “our issue is to get Cohen on the right page without giving the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the President.”
“We must reverse the Avenatti effect and restore this to a far more simple investigation of things that while they might not look good politically and nevertheless legal,” the message continued, referring to Michael Avenetti, a since disgraced attorney who represented Stormy Daniels, the former adult film actress that Trump is being accuses of paying hush money to in 2016.
The emails clearly show the extraordinary lengths that Trump and his aides used to try to silence Cohen—and suggest that they were engaged in a cover-up.
Trump is accused of using Cohen to sweep an affair with Daniels under the rug ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The Republican presidential nominee faces 34 felony charges in this case for allegedly falsifying business records with the intent to further an underlying crime. Trump has pleaded not guilty on all counts.