NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump's hush money trial cleared the courtroom of reporters Monday and then threatened to remove the defense's witness from the trial altogether because of his behavior on the stand, which included making comments under his breath and rolling his eyes, a court transcript showed. Judge Juan M. Merchan told Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor, that his conduct during testimony was contemptuous.
Costello aggravated Merchan repeatedly in part by continuing to speak after objections were sustained — a signal to witnesses to stop talking. At one point, Costello remarked “jeez” when he was cut off by an objection. He also called the whole exercise “ridiculous.
” The heated exchange came toward the end of a heated day that included the prosecution’s star witness admitting to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Trump’s company. Trump’s lawyers also pressed Merchan to stop the case from going to the jury and throw out the charges after prosecutors concluded their presentation of evidence. He didn’t immediately rule on the request, But the most tense moments happened with Costello on the witness stand.
Merchan first sent the jury out of the courtroom in order to discuss proper courtroom decorum. “So when there is a witness on the stand, if you don’t like my ruling, you don’t say ‘Jeez,’ OK. And then you don’t say ‘strike it,’ because I’m the only one that can strike testimony in the courtroom,” Me.