Trump Judge Clears Courtroom Amid Confrontation With Defense Witness

Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys called Robert Costello, an attorney who advised witness Michael Cohen, to testify in the former president’s New York trial on Monday. Judge Juan Merchan ruled Mr. Costello could testify about “two prior inconsistent statements” connected to Mr. Cohen’s earlier testimony in the case. The judge said that he did not want it to become a “trial within a trial.” Mr. Costello testified that he met with Mr. Cohen in April 2018 for several hours, adding that Mr. Cohen told him that President Trump was not involved in the payments that prosecutors say were illegally labeled. Mr. Cohen said otherwise last week, accusing the former president of directing him to make the payments to an adult film performer....