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Judge Reprimands Trump Witness Robert Costello in New York Trial
The judge in Donald Trump’s highly controversial hush money trial cleared the courtroom of media on Monday before threatening to dismiss the defense witness Robert Costello from the trial entirely due to his behavior on the stand.
Judge Juan M. Merchan reprimanded Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor, for his conduct during testimony. Costello irritated Merchan repeatedly, in part by continuing to speak after objections were sustained, indicating to witnesses that they should stop talking. Costello muttered “jeez” when he was interrupted by an objection. He also labeled the entire exercise “ridiculous.”
The discussion occurred near the close of a heated day that saw the prosecution’s star witness admit to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Trump’s firm. Trump’s lawyers also pushed Merchan to drop the case after prosecutors finished presenting evidence. The judge did not immediately rule on the request.
Robert Costello on Witness Stand
However, the most uncomfortable moments occurred with Costello on the witness stand. Merchan first led the jurors out of the courtroom to discuss basic decorum. He chastised Costello for saying “jeez” when cut off by a protracted argument and “strike it” at another point.
Merchan told him, “I am the only one who can strike testimony in court. “Do you understand that?”
“And then if you don’t like my ruling, you don’t give me side eye and you don’t roll your eyes.”
Merchan was about to call the jury back in when he asked Costello, “Are you staring me down right now?” and then ejected the press to further chastise him.
“I’m putting you on notice that your conduct is contemptuous,” Merchan said, according to a transcript of the conversation that took place after the reporters left the room. “If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand.”
Costello did not respond to a message seeking comment Monday night.
When Merchan called the reporters back in, Costello’s evidence continued, and it will resume on Tuesday. The defense is using him to undermine the credibility of Trump’s former attorney and rival, Michael Cohen.
After the jurors had left for the day, defense attorney Todd Blanche informed the court that prosecutors had failed to prove their case and that it should be dismissed immediately. Blanche begged the judge to “not send this case to the jury based on Mr. Cohen’s testimony.”
Cohen was the last witness
The judge remained unfazed by the argument, asking the defense attorney whether he believed that “as a matter of law, this person’s so not worthy of belief that it shouldn’t even be considered by the jury?”
“You said his lies are irrefutable,” the judge responded. “But you think he’s going to fool 12 New Yorkers into believing this lie?”
Cohen was the last witness — at least for the time being — for prosecutors trying to prove that Trump attempted to bury bad reports about himself and then altered internal business documents to conceal them as part of a conspiracy to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election. The defense has portrayed Cohen as a media-obsessed liar on a revenge mission to bring down Trump.
The defense called Costello because of his role as Cohen’s enemy and critic in the years after their professional relationship fractured spectacularly.
Costello offered to represent Cohen shortly after the lawyer’s hotel room, office, and house were raided, and Cohen had to decide whether to stay defiant in the face of a criminal investigation or to collaborate with authorities in the hopes of receiving more lenient punishment.
Costello said that Cohen told him Trump “knew nothing” about the $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels that is at the heart of the investigation.
“Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own, and he repeated that numerous times,” Costello told the jury.
Trump would not testify
Trump lawyer Emil Bove told the judge that the defense does not intend to call any other witnesses following Costello, however they may bring campaign finance expert Bradley A. Smith for limited testimony.
They have not explicitly stated that Trump would not testify, but this is the clearest hint yet that he will forego his right to testify in his own defense.
Cohen returned to the witness stand for a fourth day on Monday, telling jurors that he stole from the Trump Organization when his 2016 holiday bonus was reduced from $150,000 to $50,000.
Cohen claimed he paid $50,000 to a technology firm for artificially increasing Trump’s standing in a CNBC online poll of notable CEOs. Cohen claimed he only provided the firm $20,000 in cash in a brown paper bag, but he sought reimbursement from Trump for the entire amount, pocketing the remainder.
Cohen claimed he never paid the Trump Organization back. Cohen has never been accused of stealing from Trump’s company.
Cohen is an important witness, but also a problematic one. He acknowledged on the witness stand to a number of previous lies, many of which he alleges were intended to protect Trump. Cohen also served time in prison after pleading guilty to a number of criminal counts, including lying to Congress and a bank, as well as campaign finance violations tied to the hush money scam.
However, when pressed by Blanche, Cohen maintained by his account of talks with Trump about the hush money payment to Daniels. Cohen stated that he spoke with Trump about the topic over 20 times in October 2016.
“No doubt in your mind?” Blanche inquired whether Cohen remembers having contacts with Trump about the Daniels case. No question, Cohen stated.
Trump facing 34 felony counts
Following more than four weeks of testimony, jurors could begin deliberate next week on whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first criminal trial of a former US president.
The charges derive from internal Trump Organization records that show payments to Cohen were classified as legal expenditures. Prosecutors contend they were actually reimbursements for Daniels’ payment to prevent her from going public with claims of a sexual encounter with Trump prior to the 2016 election. Trump claims nothing sexual occurred between them.
Donald Trump has pled not guilty. His lawyers claim that the Daniels arrangement and Cohen’s payment were both legal.
“There’s no crime,” Trump told reporters after arriving at the courthouse on Monday. “We paid legal fees. Do you know what the price is? “A legal expense.”
After Trump’s witnesses have testified, prosecutors will have the opportunity to call rebuttal witnesses. The judge, citing scheduling constraints, stated that he expected closing arguments to take place on May 28, the Tuesday following Memorial Day.
Source: The Associated Press
News
Canadian Man Arrested for TikTok Video That Threatened Trudeau
A TikTok video that went live earlier this week has led to a Toronto man facing charges of threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Andrew Marshall, 61, is facing two counts of uttering threats.
On Friday afternoon, the Ontario Court of Justice granted him bail with a surety and restrictions after the RCMP charged him on Wednesday.
Following Monday’s upload to TikTok, CBC Toronto conducted its own independent investigation of the video. Marshall vehemently opposes what he perceives as restrictions on free expression in Canada in it.
“I get them taken down all the time— I make videos — or all my comments, that are just simple comments,” Marsh says in the TikTok. “It’s just getting ridiculous, Marshall said.”
According to the CBC more and more people are threatening politicians. The commissioner of the RCMP has hinted that further measures may be necessary to ensure their safety.
In the TikTok video, Marshall explains in great detail how he would brutally assassinate Trudeau and Freeland “if it was up to him.”
Marshall attacks multiple groups throughout the roughly 11-minute TikTok video, including the media, Muslims, migrants, and the police who defend the government.
Among Marshall’s bail terms are the following: he must not communicate with Trudeau or Freeland; he must not use the internet to make social media posts or comments; he must not own any weapons; and he must not apply for a firearms permit.
During the bail hearing, the prosecution provided all of the evidence that is often not published.
Nate Jackson, Marshall’s attorney, stressed his client’s liberties and privileges as a Canadian in an email message.
“He has the right to freedom of speech, the right to reasonable bail and the right to a fair trial,” he said. “Having secured his release from custody, we will continue to defend Mr. Marshall’s Charter rights as his case proceeds.”
Neither Freeland’s nor the prime minister’s office would comment on the allegations, according to the CBC.
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Canada’s Unemployment Rate Hits its Highest Point Since 2017
As the job market remains dismal, the national unemployment rate in Canada has risen to its highest point since 2017. This has led some analysts to question whether the Bank of Canada should be reducing interest rates more quickly.
In spite of a net gain of 22,000 jobs, Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the unemployment rate increased to 6.6% from 6.4% the previous month. The rise was due to an uptick in part-time employment and a fall in full-time employment.
Outside of the pandemic years, the national unemployment rate has reached its highest position since May 2017, according to StatCan.
Rapid population expansion in Canada has increased the overall labour pool, but the country’s unemployment rate has persisted in rising.
The summer job market was especially tough for students, according to StatCan. Not including the pandemic, the unemployment rate among students going back to school in the autumn was 16.7 percent, which is the highest level since 2012.
Two days after the Bank of Canada dropped interest rates for the third time in a row, reducing borrowing costs to alleviate economic pressure, the most recent reading of the Canadian job market follows suit.
According to TD Bank economist Leslie Preston, who wrote a note on Friday, the central bank is “giving the OK” to keep dropping rates due to the bad August jobs report. Preston predicts two more quarter-point decreases at the remaining decisions this year.
According to CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham, there are indications that the labour market is quickly contracting more than initially thought, since the unemployment rate is nearly two percentage points greater than the record low of 4.9% in June 2022.
“Due to this, we believe the Bank should be contemplating a quicker rate of reductions in order to bring interest rates to less restrictive levels,” he informed clients in a letter on Friday morning.
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US Job Growth Falls Short of Expectations: Economy Struggles Under High Interest Rates
Last month, job growth in the United States was weaker than predicted, prompting concerns that the world’s largest economy is beginning to struggle under the weight of increased interest rates.
The Labour Department said that employers added 142,000 jobs in August, which was less than the nearly 160,000 economists predicted. It also stated that job gains over the preceding two months were weaker than expected.
However, the jobless rate went down to 4.2%, down from 4.3% in July.
The report is one of the most important indicators of the US economy and arrives at a vital time, as voters consider presidential candidates for the November election and the US central bank contemplates its first interest rate decrease in four years.
Analysts said the latest statistics kept the Federal Reserve on pace for a rate drop at its meeting this month, but did little to answer worries about the trajectory of the US economy or how much of a cut it should make.
“There has rarely been such a make-or-break number; unfortunately, today’s jobs report does not completely resolve the recession debate,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
Soaring prices in 2022 caused the Federal Reserve to hike its key lending rate to 5.3%, a nearly 20-year high.
Faced with increased borrowing costs for homes, vehicles, and other debt, the economy has slowed, helping to alleviate pressures that were boosting inflation but exacerbating market concerns.
As inflation has fallen to 2.9% in July, the Fed is under pressure to decrease interest rates to prevent additional economic deceleration.
Although job increases in August fell short of expectations, they were greater than in July, when a slowdown aroused anxieties and triggered several days of stock market volatility.
Last month, construction and health-care firms hired the most, while manufacturing and retailers laid off employees.
Ms Shah stated that the data in Friday’s report was mixed, but provided enough concerning indicators that the Fed should make a larger cut.
“On balance, with inflation pressures subdued, there is no reason for the Fed not to err on the side of caution and frontload rate cuts,” she told reporters.
Others, however, felt the advances were just steady enough to warrant a 0.25 percentage point decrease, as markets had long projected – though this could signal more cuts than expected in the coming months.
Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics’ senior North America economist, predicted that the Fed’s decision will be “close run.”
“The labour market is clearly experiencing a marked slowdown,” he said, adding that the new statistics were “overall still consistent with an economy experiencing a soft landing rather than plummeting into recession”.
Concerns about the economy are a major issue in the US election.
According to polls, a majority of Americans feel the US is in a recession, despite healthy 2.5% growth last year.
Donald Trump has declared that the economy is headed for a “crash,” and his team instantly latched on the latest data to criticise Vice President Kamala Harris, publishing a press release titled “warning lights flash as Kamala’s economy continues to weaken.”
Democrats have defended their performance, claiming that the United States survived the pandemic and inflation better than many other countries.
They believe the slowdown is a sign that the economy is returning to a more sustainable rate of growth following the post-pandemic boom.
“Although hiring has slowed, the US job market continues to generate solid job gains and wage growth that is consistently beating inflation,” the White House Council of Economic Advisors stated in a blog.
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