Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz ripped Judge Juan Merchan’s “bias” rulings Monday on Fox News, detailing the reported exchange between the presiding judge and witness Bob Costello after the media was pushed out of the courtroom.
Dershowitz appeared on “Hannity” to discuss the ongoing trial regarding former President Donald Trump’s 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business records, as the attorney joined a group supporting Trump in the courtroom. Reports during the day detailed high tensions between Costello, a former attorney for the prosecutors key witness Michael Cohen, and Merchan as Costello allegedly made comments under his breath and rolled his eyes. The behavior allegedly pushed Merchan to not only kick out the media from the courtroom, but threaten Trump’s attorneys with the removal of Costello.
Fox host Sean Hannity questioned Dershowitz on the exchange he witnessed, as he was able to still sit in while the media was kicked out, asking if he’s ever seen anything like it before. (RELATED: Former DOJ Official Says Judge Being So Biased Against Trump Could ‘Backfire’ On Alvin Bragg)
“No, I never have. I sat in the front row, literally just feet away from where all the action occurred. I rolled my eyes when the judge made some rulings that were absurd. Any first year evident student would understand that he was making bias rulings in favor of one side. I stared him down, but Costello didn’t — he acted like a normal witness and the judge went berserk. The judge violated Trump’s constitutional right to a public trial by kicking the media out of the courtroom, I don’t know why I wasn’t kicked out. I heard him [Merchan] lecture Costello, ‘What you did was contemptuous, you looked at me contemptuously,'” Dershowitz stated.
Dershowitz continued to compare the incident to a 1940s movie starring actress Mae West in which she plays a gold-digging singer who is tried by a judge and thrown out of town after stating she was kidnapped by a masked bandit. The attorney additionally slams Cohen for giving “lie after lie,” calling the trial day an “outrage.”
“It reminded me of Mae West, when a judge said, ‘You’re showing contempt for the court,’ and Mae West said, ‘No your honor, I’m trying my best to hide my contempt for the court.’ I’m sure Costello was trying to hide his contempt for the court, but the judge had such a thin skin that he threatened him. He said he would strike the testimony and hold him in contempt if he rolled his eyes again. You have a constitutional right to roll your eyes and to stare at anybody. It was absurd,” Dershowitz stated.
“Then to sit so close to Cohen, watching him give lie after lie. Would you believe that he actually said he would not have accepted a pardon from Donald Trump after he had previously said he would do anything to avoid prison. He would – essentially, he would lie, he would cheat, he would do anything to avoid prison, but ‘I won’t accept the pardon from Donald Trump.’ If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.”
“There were so many lies and then failure to allow a full testimony from the expert when the other side was allowed to introduce letters, saying…it was illegal, it was illegal, it was illegal — this expert was going to come in and rebut that. This judge has committed more reversible errors in the one day I was in the courtroom than I’ve seen in years and years of practicing law. It’s just an outrage,” Dershowitz stated.
Cohen claims that Trump had directed him to make a nondisclosure agreement to porn star Stormy Daniels, as well as allegedly agreeing to have the plan reimbursed through falsifying business records. However, Costello, who was his attorney at the time, claims the allegations against Trump are false. Costello has stated not only to the media but testified before Congress last week how Cohen repeatedly told him that he didn’t have “anything” on Trump.
As Cohen has notably had a history of lying under oath, the former Trump attorney admitted on the stand Monday to stealing thousands from the Trump Organization.
