Michael Cohen's ex-advisor claims star witness lied on the stand in Trump's trial and insists fixer told him he 'had nothing' on the former president

Lawyer Bob Costello turned into Michael Cohen during a House hearing Wednesday – hours after the former Trump fixer called him 'shifty' and accused him of trying to set up a 'back channel' to then-President Donald Trump.

'I read Michael Cohen’s testimony from yesterday’s trial in New York on the way down on the train, and virtually every statement he made about me is another lie,' Costello told a House committee on 'weaponization' of government.

The comments came along with a blistering statement Costello released, where he blasted 'lawfare' he said was being deployed against Trump, and wrote about meetings with prosecutors along with Cohen. 

Cohen 'took a foolish step by lying that he had evidence that Rudy Giuliani and I had conspired to obstruct justice by dangling a pardon for him to keep his mouth shut about Donald Trump. That was totally false and utter nonsense,' Costello said. 

And he went after Cohen's motive – in a possible teaser to what Trump's legal team has in store for him in a second day of cross-examination set for Thursday in Manhattan criminal court. 

Costell0 is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He has represented Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani, suing both claiming unpaid legal fees

'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 did go to jail,' Costello said.

He said a desperate Cohen said he would 'do whatever the F I have to do. I will never spend one day in jail.'

House Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman accused the longtime lawyer of witness tampering by going public with his explosive accusations even while Cohen was on the stand (he is due back in court Thursday as a star witness for the prosecution in the case). 

'You know that coming down here, outside of that courtroom while that witness is on the stand, to try to impeach his credibility and his testimony is jury tampering,' Goldman fumed. 'You know it is unethical. You know that you are trying to discredit a current witness at a current trial.'

Other Democrats on the committee accused Republicans of organizing the hearing under pressure from Steve Bannon and other pro-MAGA figures publicly demanding more action. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said the rare Wednesday hearing was intended for Trump's viewing. 

She said it 'coincidentally happens to be the day that the court is not in session and make it more likely that the defendant is watching.'

Lawyer Todd Blanche got Cohen to admit on the stand he wanted to shorten his sentence. 

He says Cohen denied having information on Trump during their first two-hour meeting, after Cohen had his apartment and office raided by the FBI.

'Each time Cohen said to me: “I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump.” Cohen must have said this at least ten times because I kept coming back to it from different approaches. Cohen kept on saying: “Guys I want you to remember, I will do whatever the F… I have to do, I will never spend one day in jail.”

Cohen testified Costello wanted a 'back channel' through him to Trump that ran through Rudy Giuliani, a longtime friend of Costello

 Costello said Cohen told him Trump had no knowledge of the Stormy Daniels payoff. The porn star said she had an affair with Trump and got a $130,000 payoff facilitated by Cohen weeks before the 2016 election

Costello also told Congress Cohen told him he made the Stormy Daniels payoff deal without Trump's knowledge. Prosecutors have tried to establish otherwise through testimony from Cohen and others in the Trump Organization.

'When asked if Trump had any knowledge of this, Cohen told me no. When asked whether Cohen got the $130,000 from Trump or any 8 01002529 v 1 Trump entity or friend, Cohen again said no. When asked if this was from Cohen’s own money, Cohen said no,' Costello wrote.

Cohen testified that he didn't trust Costello and considered him 'shifty.' 

Costello has said there is a possibility he will be called as a witness in the Trump case.

But his testimony before the Republican-run committee gets it out into the open without the need for cross-examination. 

Emails introduced as evidence reveal Costello's repeated efforts to demonstrate his access to Giuliani, who according to Costello was communicating with then-President Trump about it. 

'I am sure you saw the news that Rudy is joining the Trump legal team. I told you my relationship with Rudy which could be very very useful for you,' Costello wrote Cohen April 19th, trying to leverage the connection.'

Although Cohen said he hadn't made an agreement to retain Costello, an email a few days later by Costello states that the back channel is already open.

'Michael, I just spoke to Rudy Giuliani and told him I was on your team. Rudy was thrilled and said this could not be a better situation for the President or you. He asked me if it was okay to call the President and Jay Sekulow and I said, fine,' he wrote, mentioning another Trump lawyer.

During Wednesday's hearing, Costello carried out a Cohen rebuttal that went beyond what Trump's team has made yet (Cohen's cross-examination got paused).  

'He focused on Melania Trump. He said I didn’t want to embarrass Melania Trump. He said that’s why I decided to take care of this on my own,' Costello said after saying Trump knew nothing about it.

'He said I didn’t want anyone to know where I got this money. I didn’t want Melania to know. I didn’t want my wife to know,' according to Costello.

Under questioning by sympathetic Republican Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), pushed back on suggestion he was trying to get Cohen to bury information that could hurt Trump.

'When they claim that I was trying to shut up Michael Cohen, it's exactly the opposite. I was on that first day telling him, here's your escape route. If you have truthful information, but he didn't,' said Costello.

The guy slow played us. There’s no question about it.