Trump trial live updates: Defense rests without Trump taking the stand

A day after Judge Juan Merchan threatened to remove him from the witness stand, former federal prosecutor Robert Costello will resume his testimony this morning as the second witness in Donald Trump's defense case.

Costello is expected to be the final defense witness before Trump's lawyers rest their case today.

Yesterday, Costello told jurors about his meetings and phone calls with Michael Cohen in 2018 after FBI agents raided his office and hotel room. Costello advised Cohen and helped pass messages to the Trump, according to Cohen, but never formally represented him as his lawyer.

"Michael Cohen said, numerous times, that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own, and he repeated that numerous times," Costello testified about the hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels that sits at the center of the case.

Justice Juan Merchan scolds witness Robert Costello as he momentarily clears the courtr...Read More
Cohen told the jury that he lied to Costello about Trump's involvement in the scheme to use hush-money payments to hide information from voters.

Costello's reactions to Judge Merchan after taking the stand yesterday afternoon -- responding "jeez" to a sustained objection, rolling his eyes at the judge, and appearing to staring him down -- prompted Merchan to clear the courtroom before threatening to remove Costello from the witness stand.

While defense lawyers suggested yesterday that they would not call Trump to the witness stand, they will likely have to confirm a final decision about the defendant's testimony -- or lack thereof -- before they rest their case.

Judge Merchan has scheduled a charge conference at 2:15 p.m. ET to hear arguments over how to instruct the jury about the law in the case.

Speaking to reporters after his hush money trial adjourned for the day, Donald Trump called the judge in the case a "tyrant" - mentioning Judge Juan M. Merchan's chastising of defense witness Robert Costello, whom he called "highly respected."

"I've never seen anything like that," Trump said.

The former president said he hoped his lawyers' move to dismiss the case succeeds "because this trial is a disaster for our country."

Trump, carrying a legal notepad and printed pieces of paper, read statements that supporters such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz made about the case, while also noting that he had to be careful of what he quoted because of the gag order.

He also quoted recent remarks by filmmaker Oliver Stone, adding: "Haven't heard his name mentioned in awhile."

Trump also claimed he's not allowed to "have an expert witness," but his legal team is allowed to call campaign finance expert, Bradley A. Smith. Merchan has limited what Smith can talk about.

The former president nevertheless declared that he thought the trial was going "very well."

"There were no crimes. We did nothing wrong. And I want to get back to campaigning," Trump said.

The defense made a motion for the dismissal of the case, with defense attorney Todd Blanche telling Judge Merchan, "There's absolutely no evidence the filings were false, the business records were false."

When the invoices for Cohen's payment were sent to the Trump Organization there's no evidence they were entered improperly, Blanche said. "At the start, there is absolutely no false business filings. They're accurate business filings," he said.

Trump looked directly at Blanche as the attorney addressed Merchan.

"There's no evidence that there's any intent to defraud by Mr. Trump in connection to these filings," Blanche argued.

"There are no other crimes," defense attorney Todd Blanche argued about the legal standard in the case -- that Trump falsified business records in furtherance of another crime. "There is no evidence that any one was thinking about a campaign finance charge in 2016 when this payment was made to Ms. Daniels."

"The prosecutors have talked in their opening statement and in papers about some sort of conspiracy to influence the election but as the court knows there has to be something illegal about this effort," Blanche said. "There's no evidence from any of the witnesses who testified of any criminal intent."

"There is no way that the court should let this case go to jury relying on Mr. Cohen's testimony," Blanche said "Without Mr. Cohen, there is no case."

Judge Merchan asked if Blanche was calling for him to rule that Cohen's testimony is "not credible as a matter of law."

"Absolutely, that's exactly what we're calling on the court to do," Blanche replied. "He testified, and he lied under oath -- in this courtroom."

Responding to the defense's motion to dismiss the case, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo Colangelo argued that Trump, at a minimum, can be found responsible for the actions of his accomplices if he set the action into motion.

"At minimum a rational jury can conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that they all contained false information," Colangelo said of the business records that recorded Michael Cohen's hush money repayment as legal expenses.

Trump, at the defense table, jotted down notes as Colangelo spoke.

"The trial evidence overwhelmingly supports each element of the offense," Colangelo argued.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche pushed the theory that Trump has argued since the first days of the trial: How else would Trump describe a payment to his lawyer other than a legal expense?

"It's hard to imagine what book -- how was this supposed to be booked by Ms. Tarasoff," Blanche asked about Trump Organization accounts payable supervisor Deborah Tarasoff.

Judge Merchan said he will reserve his decision on the motion.

Court was then concluded for the day.

After the fireworks over Robert Costello's testimony, Trump lawyer Emil Bove tried to get at one of the main reasons he said he called the attorney to the stand: to rebut any suggestion from prosecutors that Costello was part of an effort to arm-twist Michael Cohen to stay loyal to Donald Trump.

"Mr. Costello, did you ever put any pressure on Michael to do anything?" Bove asked.

"No," Costello testified. He said he considered Cohen a client and had only his interests, not Trump's, in mind during their interactions.

Trump appeared alert and engaged, his attention focused on the witness box, during Costello's testimony. When his attorneys finished their questions, he wrote a note on a piece of paper in front of him.