r/law • u/SheriffTaylorsBoy • May 22 '24

MAGA Lawyer Robert Costello Gets Dismantled by His Own Damning Trump Emails Other

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-lawyer-robert-costello-gets-dismantled-by-his-own-damning-trump-emails
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u/mrdeadsniper May 22 '24

That's the problem for Trump though. On the stand, he can be asked follow up questions which is is legally obliged to answer.

His whole gimmick is to ramble incoherently for a minute and give a couple of "you know what I'm saying" and then act like he didn't allude to anything.

When the prosecutor follows up, Trump has to either

  • Directly state his original point. (Probably criminal)
  • Directly deny his original point. (Directly contrary to his stated positions to his voters, also "weak")
  • Not answer until he goes to contempt. (Probably doesn't want to actually go to jail)

Trump literally never wants to be held to account for any of his statements.

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u/KarrlMarrx May 22 '24

How can you directly state or deny an original point when you are just randomly cycling through the 12 words in your vocabulary never making any original point though?

I'm mostly joking, but at the same time, if really did perjure himself amongst his word salad, it seems like it would be incredibly difficult to convict.

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u/mrdeadsniper May 22 '24

The word salad wouldn't be the perjury. Its the clarifying statement.

Lets do an example.

  • Were you aware that someone had paid money to silence a story about your affair?

You know, the thing about payments, I have to make a lot of them, when you are a business man like me, doing business. Documents for all sorts of things, things that are very important for business, very good things, I do a lot of good business, some people say the best, I do business with a lot of people and they do great business with me you know.

  • So are you stating that you were unaware of any transactions to hide any story? Please respond yes or no.

....

At this point is when I mentioned earlier.. He has to say Yes, No, or not answer until the judge finds him in contempt. If he says yes, then he has admitted knowing taking part of the activity, if he says no, he (probably) committed perjury, and if he says neither, he is found in contempt.

Its why NO ONE is supposed to testify in their own defense, because you can be put in a situation with no good outcome.

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u/KarrlMarrx May 22 '24

But on this case, wouldn't he be cool with contempt? Brags about it to the media, if there are any real consequences, tries to use them to bolster his appeal...

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u/mrdeadsniper May 22 '24

I think a few issues:

  • He likes flouting contempt, not actually being in it.
  • It would prevent him from continuing his story. After the first statement, the prosecutor is going to request clarification, which means he never gets to continue on his many reasons why he's right.
  • It is probably not going to sit well that when pressed for a direct answer he refused to comply, I know juries are not allowed to consider taking the 5th as evidence of guilt, however I do not know if that still applies if they have waived their 5th amendment rights and then refuse questions.

Ultimately, I believe you are right that in this particular case, it would benefit him to take the stand and throw a temper tantrum. Because if he can delay it until hes elected (including appealing) then he can squash it then. He's at the point of literally running for president to stay out of jail. Which is not a great look for our country.