Donald Trump glares at Judge Juan Merchan as he debates attorney Emil Bove about what Robert Costello can testify to.
Dramatic day in court as defense begins to present case in Trump trial
By CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle and Jeremy Herb in the courthouse
Updated 1:24 p.m. ET, May 21, 2024
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Trump glares at the judge as his attorney makes a case about Costello's testimony
Bove argues Costello is being called as witness to rebut argument about alleged "pressure campaign" from Trump
Trump attorney Emil Bove says that Robert Costello is being called to rebut the prosecution's argument about a "supposed pressure campaign from President Trump."
Bove also says Trump's legal team let the prosecutors know they were likely to put Costello on the stand "days ago."
From that initial meeting, Bove said Costello's recollection is different from Michael Cohen's.
"Costello recalls Cohen saying President Trump did not know about the payment to Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels). That’s extremely probative of the core issues in this case," Bove said.
Judge Juan Merchan asks Bove "you don't think the whole pressure campaign theory is collateral?"
Bove says not at all.
"The whole purpose of this was to make president trump sound threatening," Bove says. Merchan says he disagrees that was the purpose.
"I disagree that Mr. Costello can testify about Cohen’s state of mind. I’ll consider some of your other arguments but I’ll disagree to that," judge says.
Prosecutors seek to restrict the questioning of Robert Costello
Prosecutors are seeking to restrict the questioning of Robert Costello, a lawyer who once advised Michael Cohen.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger says:
"They should be restricted to two questions frankly that Cohen testified he didn’t recall. He didn’t recall Costello telling him that he should cooperate against Trump. He didn’t recall the words saying that he said to Mr. Costello that he had nothing on President Trump."
Hoffinger adds that Cohen testified he didn't tell Costello the truth because he thought it would get back to Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump.
Judge is asking jurors to step outside
Judge Juan Merchan is asking the jurors to step outside. Lawyers from both sides are at the bench before the defense's next witness, Robert Costello, is brought into court.
"I do wish that we had discussed this earlier," judge says.
The key points from paralegal Daniel Sitko, the defense's first witness
From CNN's Eric Levenson
Daniel Sitko, a paralegal for defense attorney Todd Blanche, testified on Monday as the defense's first witness and said he put together a summary chart of calls between Michael Cohen and attorney Robert Costello.
Here are the key points:
Cohen-Costello calls: Cohen previously testified he spoke with Costello a number of times but never formally retained him. The jury in this case has already seen emails from Costello offering to serve as a backchannel to Trump after Cohen's home and office were searched by the FBI.
The record shows there were 75 calls between Cohen and Costello, answered and unanswered, in April, May, and June of 2018, Sitko testified. One call on May 27, 2018, was 96 minutes long, the record shows.
No further call info: On cross-examination, Sitko confirmed there’s no way to tell who was on the calls because they came from the general line of the firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron.
Defense calls Robert Costello to testify
The defense has called Robert Costello to testify. The prosecution and defense just wrapped up their questioning of Todd Blanche's paralegal Daniel Sitko.
The key points from the defense's re-cross-examination of Michael Cohen
From CNN's Eric Levenson
Michael Cohen testified for about 10 minutes under a re-cross-examination on Monday afternoon, his 4th day on the stand in the former president’s hush money trial. Here are the key points:
Cohen still blames Trump: Cohen lost his law license after pleading guilty to a felony. "Is that President Trump’s fault?" defense attorney Todd Blanche asked.
"In part," Cohen said, adding he blamed Trump because of the "totality" of the crimes he was convicted of, including the campaign finance violations.
Focus again on October 2016 call: The defense on Thursday accused Cohen of inventing an October 2016 phone call with Trump just before he sent $130,000 to Stormy Daniels’ attorney, and returned to that point on re-cross.
"Your testimony is still … just so I understand … in that 90 seconds you spoke with Mr. (Keith) Schiller about the problem you were having with the 14-year-old, got him to agree to take care of it, told him you would send him the number which you did but also had time for Mr. Schiller to pass the phone to Mr. Trump and update him on everything going on," Blanche asked.
"Yes, sir," Cohen said.
Cross-examination underway of paralegal Daniel Sitko
Trump attorney Todd Blanche's direct questioning of his paralegal Daniel Sitko is over.
Becky Mangold is doing the cross-examination for the prosecution.
She confirms with Sitko that there's no way to tell who was on the calls listed from the general line of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron.
Remember: Cohen says he's on a board with Jeffrey Citron who worked at the same firm as Costello at the time.
Michael Cohen testified for more than 17 hours — the longest of any prosecution witness
From CNN's Celina Tebor
Michael Cohen, the last witness prosecutors called, testified for more than 17 hours over four days – the longest of any prosecution witness.
Both the direct and cross-examination of Cohen lasted about eight hours.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger conducted a redirect for just under an hour, and Todd Blanche’s recross was 10 minutes.
David Pecker, the former CEO of American Media Inc., was the prosecution's first witness with the second-longest testimony time: more than 10 hours over four days.