Trump’s Last-Ditch Effort to Derail Stormy Daniels Case Misfires

Donald Trump’s legal last-ditch effort to derail Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s potential indictment of the former president over his hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels appears to be not only a dud but a misfire.

With the grand jury reportedly nearing the conclusion of its investigation and Bragg’s decision on indictment seemingly imminent, Trump lawyers made an 11th-hour request. As is required in New York, prosecutors had extended an invitation to Trump to testify, signaling that prosecutors likely planned to ask the grand jury to return an indictment against Trump. But rather than making the risky choice of putting Trump before a grand jury to testify under oath—as well as waiving his Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination—Trump’s lawyers asked that attorney Robert Costello be allowed to testify instead.

According to Costello, his mission before the grand jury was to assault the credibility of key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, who was Trump’s “fixer” attorney. Cohen pleaded guilty and was convicted of tax evasion, false statements to a bank, and campaign finance violations.

Read more at The Daily Beast.