Natalia Chi
Former Counsel to Manhattan Key Witness Michael Cohen grand jury investigation Former President Donald Trump tried to discredit Cohen on Monday as a liar for his “Revenge Tour.”
Robert Costello, who appeared before a grand jury at the request of Trump’s attorney, told reporters after testifying that Cohen said “the exact opposite of what he told us.”
Costello explained that Cohen was in a “manic state” when they first met at Cohen’s request in April 2018.of Paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels Right before the 2016 election.
“He was walking around like a wild tiger in a cage and talking to us,” Costello said. Then he suddenly stopped in the middle of talking about something, pointed to us, and said, “I want you.” I’m not going to spend a day in jail. He must have said it nearly twenty times.
“Well, he went to jail,” Costello continued. “And now he’s on the Revenge Tour.” .
“If Bob Costello’s comments were any more fantastic, he’d be a best-selling fiction author,” Cohen told CBS News Monday night. It’s important to note, as I stated many years ago, that the payments were made at the direction of Donald J. Trump, in cooperation with him, and for his benefit. The truth is the truth.The documents in DANY’s possession show this, and Bob worked for Rudy Giuliani, which should explain his lack of truthfulness.”
As the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation gathered momentum, Cohen spent two days meeting with investigators repeatedly. testifying before a grand jury Regarding Trump’s alleged role in payments, including campaign finance violations and possible falsification of business records.
Costello said Cohen said he was contacted by Daniels’ attorney about a potential lawsuit. Daniels claims he had sex with Trump in 2006, but he denies it.
“So Michael Cohen decided for himself, that’s what he told us himself, to see if he could handle this,” Costello said. He sat down with Stormy Daniels’ attorneys. They negotiated a $130,000 non-disclosure agreement.”
Costello asked Cohen if he received the money from his own account or if it was Trump’s money.
“I said, ‘Why would you do that?'” Costello said of their conversation. “He said, ‘I wanted to keep this secret, and I wanted it to be a secret from my wife.'”
Cohen claimed that Trump authorized the payment to buy Daniels silence during the 2016 campaign, and that the Trump organization reimbursed him for the payment.
“He’s totally unreliable,” Costello said.
Costello gave five packets containing hundreds of emails exchanged between Cohen and his law firm in 2018 and 2019 to the Manhattan District Attorney and Trump’s attorneys. It asked the district attorney to turn all the papers to the grand jury, rather than select some.
“Let’s see exactly who Michael Cohen is,” he said.
–Graham Kates contributed to this report.
