Former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz appeared on Fox News on Monday to criticize Judge Juan Marchan’s “bias” ruling, recounting a reported exchange between the presiding judge and witness Bob Costello after reporters were chased out of the courtroom.
Dershowitz appeared on “Hannity” to discuss former President Donald Trump’s ongoing trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, joining a group that supported Trump in court. News reports that day detailed tensions between Mr. Costello, a former lawyer for key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, and Mr. Marchand, with Mr. Costello making comments that included some hiccups and eye rolls. It is said that In doing so, Marchan not only kicked the media out of the courtroom, but also allegedly threatened Trump’s lawyers with the threat of removing Costello.
Fox host Sean Hannity, who watched as reporters were ushered away, asked Dershowitz if he had ever seen an exchange like this before. (Related: Former Justice Department official says judge being highly biased against Trump could ‘backfire’ on Alvin Bragg)
“No, not once. I was sitting in the front row, literally just a few feet away from where all the action happened. When the judge handed down the unreasonable sentence, I couldn’t help but stare. Any obvious first-year student would understand that he was giving a biased verdict in favor of one side. I glared at him, but Costello did. He acted like a normal witness, and the judge was furious. Why me? The judge had kicked the media out of the courtroom, violating President Trump’s constitutional right to a trial. I don’t know why he didn’t kick me out.I heard his voice. [Merchan] “I lectured Costello and said, ‘What you did was disrespectful and you looked at me with contempt,'” Dershowitz said.
Dershowitz went on to compare the incident to the 1940s. movie Leading actress May West In the film, she plays a gold mining singer who is tried by a judge and chased out of town after claiming to have been kidnapped by masked robbers. The lawyer also accused Cohen of “liing after lie” and called the trial day an “unconscionable act.”
“When the judge said, ‘You have contempt for the court,’ and Mae West said, ‘No, I’m doing everything in my power to hide my contempt for the court.’ ” Costello must have tried to hide his disdain for the court, but the judge was so thin-skinned that he threatened him. If he rolled his eyes again, he said, he would beat up and disrespect the testimony. You have a constitutional right to stare at someone wide-eyed. It was irrational,” Dershowitz said.
“Then I sat very close to Cohen and watched him tell one lie after another. He had previously said he would do anything to avoid prison, but now he has announced that he will not accept a pardon from Donald Trump. Can you believe he actually said that he would lie, cheat, and do anything to avoid prison, but that he would “not accept a pardon from Donald Trump?” If you believe that, we have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. ”
“There were so many lies that even though the other side was allowed to submit letters, they didn’t allow full testimony from the experts. ‘It’s illegal, it’s illegal, it’s illegal – This expert was going to step in and refute that.” This judge made more reversals in one day I was in court than I’ve seen in all my years as a lawyer. He made a mistake. It’s just outrageous,” Dershowitz said.
Mr. Cohen alleges that Mr. Trump directed him to sign a non-disclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels and also agreed to obtain reimbursement for the scheme through falsification of business records. But Mr. Costello, who was his lawyer at the time, maintains that the allegations against Mr. Trump are false. In addition to speaking to the media, Mr. Costello testified to Congress last week that Mr. Cohen repeatedly told him he had “nothing” about Mr. Trump.
Mr. Cohen, who has a well-known history of lying under oath, admitted in court Monday that Mr. Trump’s former lawyer embezzled thousands of dollars from the Trump Organization.
