Emails presented as evidence in Donald Trump’s trial reveal a move to establish a “back channel” to President Trump that would go through Rudy Giuliani at a time when Michael Cohen was consulting as a lawyer following an FBI raid on his apartment and office.
It was designed “more or less to be covert.” Everything is a secondary channel. Something like I spy,’ so Cohen put it during his second day of testimony in Trump’s hush money trial on Tuesday.
The relationship began after FBI I agents showed up at Cohen’s door in 2018 to confiscate his two cellphones and remove documents in a search that included his office and flooded residence. He said he was “disheartened” and “angry.”
He was also vulnerable, with potentially incriminating documents in his possession, including one that acted as a “side” agreement stating that Trump and Stormy Daniels were the figures in a contract to bury his claims of an affair, which Trump denies ever occurred.
It happened at a time when Cohen was “scared” and “wanted to be assured that Mr. Trump had my back.”
Costello, a lawyer who previously worked as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, seemed to have that lifeline, Cohen testified: a way to connect Cohen to Trump while waging what was shaping up to be a potential legal battle.
Michael Cohen spoke of a “back channel” with Trump that would allow him to maintain a line with President Trump through his lawyer, Robert Costello, who is close to Rudy Giuliani. He was meant to go ‘undercover’ while Cohen decided what to do following an FBI raid on his home and office.
“He also told me that this would be a great way to have a secondary channel of communication with the president to ensure that you are still safe and well,” Cohen testified.
But he was not convinced, as an associate introduced him to the lawyer.
“There was something really dubious and wrong about him,” Cohen said of Costello, who was close to the former New York mayor (although Costello sued Giuliani for $1.4 million in unpaid legal fees).
Costello did not immediately respond to a call to DailyMail.com about the alleged “backchannel.”
He said C.B.S. Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, has contacted him and believes he may be called as a defense witness.
Although he testified that he had no idea what the feds were investigating, Cohen certainly knew he was in possession of material that would establish a trail of the Stormy Daniels payment, including an audio recording he made secretly from Trump about a hush payment and documents. about his $130,000 payment to the porn star, for which he received a refund.
The emails presented as evidence reveal Costello’s repeated efforts to demonstrate his access to Giuliani, who Costello said was communicating with then-President Trump about the matter.
Attorney Robert Costello touted his access to Rudy Giuliani when he raised Michael Cohen as a potential client.
“Sleep well tonight, you have friends in high places,” he wrote in April 2018, when Trump was tweeting his belief that Cohen would not “change his mind.”
Giuliani was close to Trump and would join the president’s legal team
Costell is a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York. He has represented Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani, suing both for unpaid legal fees.
Prosecutors presented as evidence Trump’s tweets about whether Cohen would “change his mind.” He would later call Cohen a “rat.”
‘I’m sure you saw the news that Rudy is joining Trump’s legal team. “I told you about my relationship with Rudy, which could be very helpful to you,” Costello wrote to Cohen on April 19, trying to capitalize on the connection.
Although Cohen said he had not reached an agreement to retain Costello, an email sent a few days later by Costello states that the back channel is now open.
‘Michael, I just talked to Rudy Giuliani and told him I was on your team. Rudy was excited and said this couldn’t be a better situation for the President or for you. He asked me if it was okay to call the president and Jay Sekulow and I said, okay,” he wrote, mentioning another Trump lawyer.
‘He asked me to tell you that he knows how difficult this is for you and your family and that he will file a lawsuit. [sure] tell the President. “He thanked me for opening this channel of communication and asked me to stay in touch,” Costello wrote.
Cohen said in court Tuesday that he was concerned the network could funnel information to Trump.
“I also worried, again, when he started talking about his incredibly close relationship with Rudy, that everything I said to him was going to be said and told to Rudy Giuliani. And, of course, because Rudy Giuliani at that time was so close to Mr. Trump, to President Trump, that anything I said would reach him,” Cohen said.
Another email from Costello, dated April 21, gave further assurance that “they are on our side.”
The two men met, exchanging phone calls and emails as Cohen decided what to do after an FBI raid on his home and office.
‘I talked to Rudy. Very, very positive. You are loved. If you want to call me I will give you the details,’ Costello wrote.
‘I told him everything you asked and he said they knew. There was never any doubt and they are on our side. Rudy said that this communication channel must be maintained. He called it crucial and noted how comfortable they were to have someone like me who Rudy has known for so many years in this position. Sleep well tonight. “You have friends in high places,” Costello concluded.
A postscript made the point clear. ‘PS: Some very positive comments about you from the White House. “Rudy noted that this followed my conversation with him last night,” Costello wrote.
Prosecutors had Cohen note that the messages almost intersected with Trump’s public tweets about whether or not Cohen would “turn,” or turn on him.
‘Michael is a self-employed businessman/lawyer who I have always liked and respected. “Most people will be angry if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories,” Trump wrote.
‘Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible witch hunt and dishonest media!’
The post “let me know I was still important to the team and I stayed the course with the president supporting me,” Cohen said, when asked for his response at the time.
But things went sour with Costello, and in June the lawyer had to prove to Cohen that he wasn’t manipulating him.
“Michael, to prove to you that Rudy Giuliani called me and I didn’t call him, I photographed the pages from my iPhone, which I attached,” Costello wrote.
There are signs of angry phone calls. ‘
“Michael, since you hung up the phone rather abruptly, I didn’t get a chance to tell you that my friend has told me he’s meeting with his client tonight,” Costello wrote. Cohen said that was referring to Giuliani and Trump.
“I must tell you, frankly, that I am not used to hearing abuse like that in today’s conversation,” Costello wrote, using some of Cohen’s own tactics. (Cohen has said that he would sometimes ‘bully’ people over Trump.) Costello was concerned that Cohen had met with another lawyer and had been “played here.”
On June 14, Costello sent Cohen a clip of Giuliani discussing the possibility of Cohen cooperating in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Cohen asked why he was sending it, prompting another angry exchange.
“It seems clear to me that you are under the impression that Trump and Giuliani are trying to discredit you and throw you under the bus,” Costello wrote, saying that was not the case.
“I think you are wrong, because you are believing the narrative promoted by the left-wing media,” he advised. But he said they were wrong. ‘Many of them are already writing. “That you are cooperating,” he wrote, but said it was a tactic to “pressure you into believing you are alone.” That everyone you knew before is drifting apart They are separated from you and you are being “thrown under the bus.”
Cohen never revealed to the lawyer what he knew about the Stormy Daniels deal. “I didn’t trust him,” she told the court.
Instead, in August Cohen would plead guilty to lying to Congress and campaign financing. Although he did not reach a cooperation agreement, he met with the special counsel as well as prosecutors while he was in prison and during his home confinement about the Stormy Daniels case and other matters. This year he testified before prosecutors in Trump’s fraud trial.
And he says he made the turn after talking to his wife, daughter and son.
All that told me, why are you holding on?His loyalty? Cohen testified. ‘What are you doing? Are we supposed to be your first loyalty?
When asked what decision he had made at that time, he responded: “It was time to listen to them.”
If the defense called Costello, he would have a lot to say about Cohen.
He told a House committee on the “militarization” of the government on Wednesday that Cohen “took a foolish step by lying that he had evidence that Rudy Giuliani and I had conspired to obstruct justice by offering him a pardon to keep his mouth shut.” closed on Donald Trump.” . “That was totally false and absolute nonsense,” he said.
“Now, after going to jail, Michael Cohen is on a revenge tour because he blames Donald Trump for the loss of his law license and the fact that he went to jail,” Costello wrote in a statement to the committee. .
DailyMail.com also sought comment from Giuliani.