No one seems to be able to stop Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg from bringing an indictment against former President Donald Trump, but there is one guy who may have what’s necessary to derail the case according to Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz.
Former federal prosecutor Robert Costello testified in front of a Manhattan grand jury this week over matters related to a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star in 2016. Costello testified that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, expected to be Bragg’s main witness in any case against Trump, “couldn’t tell the truth if you put a gun to his head.”
Dershowitz told Fox News’s host Sean Hannity that “Bob Costello has changed this case dramatically.”
“I think that Bragg now only has two possible results from that. Number one, he can say, ‘alright, I’m going to try to make the case without Cohen.’ He cannot use Cohen as a witness anymore. That would be unethical because of the testimony that Costello gave,” Dershowitz said. “Or he could say, ‘look, I have to drop the case.’ He may not be able to make it without Cohen. But if he can’t make it without Cohen, he can’t make it, because no ethical prosecutor is allowed to put on as a witness somebody who has told the lies and has contradicted himself so much.”
In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges involving tax evasion, fraud, and campaign finance violations related to the payment to Daniels and another payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Costello told the grand jury on Monday that Cohen had said that the hush money payments were his idea, not Trump’s. Costello also criticized prosecutors for “cherry-picking” evidence to show the grand jury that gave a false view of what happened. “They seemed clearly one-sided and not after the truth,” Costello told The New York Times.
Dershowitz said, “I think that Bob Costello — it’s a game changer. I think maybe that’s a reason for the delay here. I think ethical experts are now telling Bragg, ‘wait a minute, you cannot use Cohen,’” said Dershowitz. “But if you can’t make it without Cohen, you cannot bring this charge.”
