Attorney Bob Costello turned into Michael Cohen during a House hearing on Wednesday — hours after the former Trump fixer called him “devious” and accused him of trying to set up a “back channel” to then-President Donald Trump .
“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,” Costello told a House committee about the ‘armament’ of the government.
The comments were accompanied by a blistering statement Costello released in which he decried the “lawyer” he said was being deployed against Trump and wrote about meeting with prosecutors alongside Cohen.
Cohen “took a foolish step by lying that he had proof that Rudy Giuliani and I had conspired to obstruct justice by pardoning him to keep quiet about Donald Trump.” That was completely false and utter nonsense,” Costello said.
And he went after Cohen’s motive — in a possible teaser of what Trump’s legal team has in store for him during a second day of cross-examination taking place Thursday in Manhattan criminal court.
Costell0 is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He represented Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani and sued both for unpaid legal fees
“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.
He said a desperate Cohen said he would “do whatever the FI needs to do.” I will never spend one day in jail.”
House Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman accused the longtime attorney of witness tampering by making his explosive allegations public even while Cohen was on the stand (he is due back in court Thursday as a key witness for the prosecution in the case).
“You know that if you come out here outside the courtroom while that witness is on the witness stand and try to question his credibility and his testimony, that’s jury tampering,” Goldman fumed. “You know it’s unethical. You know you are trying to discredit a current witness in an ongoing trial.”
Defense attorney Todd Blanche had Cohen admit during testimony that he wanted to shorten his sentence.
He says Cohen denied having information about Trump during their first two-hour meeting, after Cohen had his apartment and office raided by the FBI.
“Every time, Cohen said to me, ‘I swear to God, Bob, I have nothing on Donald Trump.’ Cohen must have said this at least ten times, because I kept coming back to it from different angles. Cohen kept saying, “Guys, I want you to remember, I will do what I have to do, I will never spend one day in jail.”
Cohen testified that Costello wanted a “back channel” through him to Trump, which went through Rudy Giuliani, a longtime friend of Costello
Costello said Cohen told him Trump had no knowledge of Stormy Daniels’ payout. The porn star said she had an affair with Trump and received a $130,000 payout facilitated by Cohen weeks before the 2016 election.
Costello also told Congress that Cohen told him he made the payout deal with Stormy Daniels without Trump’s knowledge. Prosecutors have tried to establish otherwise through testimony from Cohen and others in the Trump Organization.
When asked if Trump was aware of this, Cohen said no. When asked whether Cohen received the $130,000 from Trump or another entity or friend of Trump, Cohen again said no. When asked if this was from Cohen’s own money, Cohen said no,” Costello wrote.
Cohen testified that he did not trust Costello and found him “devious.”
Costello has said there is a possibility he will be called as a witness in the Trump case.
But his testimony before the Republican-led committee makes it public without the need for cross-examination.
Emails introduced into evidence reveal Costello’s repeated attempts to demonstrate his access to Giuliani, who Costello says communicated with then-President Trump about the matter.
“I’m sure you’ve seen the news that Rudy is joining Trump’s legal team. I have told you my relationship with Rudy, which could be very useful to you,” Costello Cohen wrote on April 19, attempting to leverage the connection.”
Although Cohen said he had not entered into a deal to retain Costello, an email a few days later from Costello stated that the backchannel is already open.
“Michael, I just talked to Rudy Giuliani and told him I was on your team. Rudy was thrilled and said this couldn’t be a better situation for the president or for you. He asked me if it was okay to call the president and Jay Sekulow and I said fine,” he wrote, naming another Trump attorney.