Manhatten DA Alvin Bragg’s star witness is the disbarred former Trump employee Michael Cohen. Cohen has a credibility issue and he can’t keep his mouth shut, a bad combination, so it wasn’t easy for Tucker Carlson to bust him lying.
But it will be important in a trial if Trump is charged. Cohen said he never signed a waiver with Robert Costello, a lawyer and witness for Trump in the case. So Tucker brought Costello and his show and waived the document in Bragg’s face.
Costello said: “I said, fine, send it over, I’ll be delighted to talk to you. That waiver is very clear. And once we had that, I prepared 330 emails, and a bunch of text message. I called them up after I saw Michael Cohen on TV stating things that he said he was going to tell the grand jury that were contrary to what he told us when we first represented him in April 2018.
“So I’m sitting at home watching these lies, and I said, I’ve got to do something about it.
“I don’t represent Donald Trump, but I do stand for justice. And I think I have a legal obligation to inform both sides.
“I wanted him to look me in the eye and assess my credibility. Did I have more credibility than Michael Cohen? Because Michael Cohen, in my opinion, was lying about just about everything,” he said.
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley explained why it is important that Cohen got busted lying on national TV:
“Yesterday, I ran a column in USA Today on the unpalatable prospect of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg putting disbarred attorney Michael Cohen on the stand as his star witness in the case against former president Donald Trump.
“Given Cohen’s past lies and conduct, it will be a target rich environment for cross examination.
“As if on cue, Cohen just added another potential item for a withering cross: he denied any memory of a waiver of attorney-client privilege in a public tiff with Robert Costello.
“When I heard that Robert Costello had asked to speak before the grand jury to rebut Cohen’s testimony, I was highly critical.
“As a criminal defense attorney, a public confrontation with a former client (particularly in claiming possible perjury on his part) is anathema. It is rare for an attorney to contradict a former client in public, let alone launch such a full frontal attack on his veracity and character.
“Putting aside the propriety of such a move, the violation of confidentiality in such a case could result in bar charges. However, Costello then claimed to have a signed waiver of attorney-client privilege.
“Cohen then took the signature step of going on television to blast Costello. While prosecutors would likely prefer that he avoid public interviews, Cohen has been maximizing his exposure on the legal matter — a signature throughout his career.
“Cohen went on the Joy Reid Show to denounce Costello. With no sense of self-awareness, he accused Costello of lacking “any sense of veracity.” But then he added that “I didn’t know Bob Costello from a hole in the wall” and that Costello “was never my lawyer.”
“On the waiver, Cohen denied any recollection of waiving the privilege and said “I’d like to know when, how and where.”
“Costello then went on Tucker Carlson’s Show on Fox News and held up a signed waiver that he said has Cohen’s signature on the second page.
“I still find this dog fight between two lawyers to be unseemly. However, unless Costello is a forger, Cohen just added another alleged false statement on the eve of the Trump prosecution.
“If that is his signature, his denial can not only be used to show a spotty memory of important legal details or, equally damaging, his own lack of veracity,” he said.
Given Cohen’s past lies and conduct, his cross examination will be a target rich environment. Yet, Cohen just added another potential item for a withering cross: he denied any memory of a waiver of confidentiality in a public tiff with Robert Costello….https://t.co/RAJrZ1GuD5
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) March 21, 2023
