Trump ally Robert Costello said on Monday that he had attacked the credibility of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen while appearing before a Manhattan grand jury investigating the 2016 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Cohen said there were “so many things” about Costello’s statement that were untrue. He said that Costello never directly represented him and disputed Costello’s claim that Cohen had waived attorney-client privilege.
Cohen was on standby as a rebuttal witness on Monday but was not called, according to his lawyer. He may still be asked to testify on Wednesday, suggesting that a possible Trump indictment could still be several days away.
I have truth,” Cohen told MSNBC. “I have the documentation. Let me rephrase that. The district attorney has the documentation in order to validate every single statement that I’ve made and to basically dispel anything that Bob Costello has to say which is probably, again, why they didn’t need me for rebuttal.”
Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman added that Costello appeared to be wantonly betraying attorney-client information & privilege. “I am willing to bet that his claims of waiver from Cohen are anywhere from dubious to 100% manufactured. If that’s right, a bar complaint should follow,” he tweeted.
Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman called the decision to let Costello testify before the grand jury a “dumb, stupid move” and warned that it could lead to additional charges against Trump.
Giving prosecutors access to Costello, Akerman told MSNBC, allows the district attorney to bring up “all the conversations Costello had with Michael. All the conversations Costello had with Rudy Giuliani. What Rudy Giuliani said that Donald Trump said and what he conveyed to Donald Trump. And then I would end up indicting Donald Trump for witness tampering and obstruction of justice. I mean, the Mueller report itself is enough basis to do that. But now they put forward a witness who’s right in the middle of this witness tampering plot to supposedly give exculpatory evidence!”
R&I-Rawr
Captain