I disagree with this assessment. Costello is a career Federal Prosecutor who is currently a defense counsel. He knows how the game is played.DTP02 said:Ellis Wyatt said:
No doubt those are the talking points they were given to put out for a long weekend plus. The whole thing is psychotic.
I think it's a fair analysis of Costello's testimony, actually.
He's a witness, not a judge. He's not a party. He's not entitled to anything other than answering the questions the judge allows to be put to him.
Given both the restrictions on what the judge allowed him to get into and Costello's behavior, I think putting him on the stand was a net negative for the defense.
The defense knew they were taking a gamble, especially with how narrow the judge was going to limit Costello's testimony, and it backfired.
He also knows a hack job from the bench when he sees it, and it disgusts him. He has 100s of emails to refute the legal theory being put forth by the prosecution that were blocked at both the Grand Jury phase, and now the trial itself, by the SAME JUDGE.
He sees, as many of us do, that this was never a true criminal trial. It is a political one. The judge is ethically compromised, and not allowing a criminal defendant to exercise a defense. My guess is that he was fighting back in the only way he could against being a pawn in a carefully scripted hit job.
This judge, court, and the New York judicial system as a whole are also on trial here. And by extension, the judicial system of the nation as a whole. We're watching it be torn down brick by brick. As stated above, this is a trial for the general public, not for Trump. If the fix is truly in, and he's going to be convicted regardless of what happens in the courtroom, at least expose the scam for what it is.