(WatchDogReport.org) – A former Manhattan federal prosecutor and attorney who previously represented star witness Michael Cohen claimed that the onetime lawyer of former President Donald Trump lied about alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Robert Costello told a House Select Subcommittee that Cohen’s testimony was false. Cohen had previously insisted that the former president was not involved in the $130,000 transaction, claiming during the criminal trial in Manhattan that he made the payment on Trump’s behalf. Costello argued that key points made in his recent testimony were false.
Allegations that Trump falsified business records in order to cover up a payment sent to “silence” Daniels over an affair are at the center of his criminal trial. Unlike Trump, Cohen has already been convicted in connection to payment of providing the bank with false statements, tax evasion, and violating federal campaign finance law. When the former president’s legal team scrutinized Cohen’s claim that he believed he had discussed the payment with his former boss, Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, told him they were not asking for his “belief.”
Costello stated that every claim Cohen had made about him had been “another lie” and said the disgraced lawyer had been desperate to avoid jail time. Costello added that he advised Cohen to submit any incriminating evidence he had against Trump to the U.S. attorney’s office in New York in the hope it could help the lawyer’s case. According to Costello, even when contemplating suicide, Cohen admitted at the time that he had no evidence.
Trump’s defense team has taken advantage of every opportunity to question Cohen’s credibility as a witness based on his criminal convictions, behavior outside the courtroom, and an apparent vendetta against his former boss. As the week focusing on his testimony came to a close, Cohen admitted to lying under oath and hating the former president.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson arrived in Manhattan along with other Republicans during the week of Cohen’s testimony to show Trump his support. He argued that the lawyer was on a personal revenge mission with a proven history of perjury. Cohen has insisted that Trump knew about the payment, but denied telling Costello about his former boss’s knowledge of the transaction. Costello concluded that the lawyer lacked credibility.
Copyright 2024, WatchDogReport.org
