Contention flowed at former President Donald Trump’s trial on allegations he falsified business records, but for once Trump was not the focus of Judge Juan Merchan’s ire. It was the defense team’s star witness. Witness Robert Costello was on the stand on Monday when his obvious dissatisfaction with rulings that blocked the defense from asking him the questions it sought to ask was quashed by Merchan.
The core of Costello’s testimony was that prosecution witness Michael Cohen had said that Trump never knew about payments to porn star Stormy Daniels that are at the heart of the case. “I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,” Cohen told him, and that he paid Daniels “on his own.” Cohen has said he was battling a “pressure campaign” by Trump and his supporters into working with Costello.
Defense lawyers tried to pursue that line of thought but were blocked by Merchan. “I’m not going to allow this to become a trial within a trial about a pressure campaign and how it affected Cohen,” Merchan said, according to . After Merchan spiked one question at the behest of the , according to , Costello exhaled “Jeez!” “Sorry? I’m sorry?” Merchan snapped.
“Strike it,” Costello said. Merchan informed Costello only the judge has the power to order testimony to be stricken, according to USA Today. “Do you understand that?” Merchan asked.
He then took issue with Costello’s eye movement. “Are you staring me down right now?” he .