If any of the neighbors want to come and speak to me about what they saw on that block, you have an open invitation. A great segment. Do you remember the 1980s mobsters comedy, wiseguys. Its part of the grand design. The mob is willing to forgive them. If he will just do one simple thing. Wiseguys. Wiseguys. A comedy about two loadable gangsters played by joe piscopo and danny devito, who work for a mafia done called castillo. Probably not the highlight of Danny Devitos successful career, it was the high point for joe piscopo. He had a run as a cast member on saturday night live, where he was known for Playing Gangster Adjacent characters like his half decent frank sinatra. He played a mobster from the 1930s with michael keaton. Then a more modern version of the same character in wiseguys. After that joe piscopo didnt get a lot of other leading roles until today. When he got a late career break is a different kind of lackey. Today he was among the odd characters that came to the Manhattan Courthouse To Support donald trump. The witness on the stand was Robert Costello, the Trump Affiliated Lawyer who Michael Cohen said pressured Michael Cohen to stay loyal to donald trump. You might save yourself, is it a good idea to have a criminal defendant, donald trump, sitting next to joe piscopo, a Guy Known For Playing A Mobster in the costello crime family while a trump lawyer, named costello, took the stand in real life to face questions about his own is a good idea . Probably not a good idea. Then again, this is kind of the trump world thing. Yesterday Robert Costello was smacked down for his wiseguy attitude in court and to date susan half an took him apart and said costello was supposed to be acting like Michael Cohens lawyer. Here is one of the emails about cohen that was read today. Our issue is to get on the right page without the appearance that we are following instructions from luigi ali for the president. It does not settle at all. What prosecutors were able to do with the help of joe piscopo was highlight the mop like quality of this entire trump affair. Its a theme that has been part of the story from the beginning. Heres how Michael Cohen describe the pressure he got from trump when he testified to congress in 2019. Mr. Trump called me a rat for choosing to tell the truth much like a mobster would do when one of his men decides to cooperate with the government. Over the years weve seen a lot of people describe trumps Pressure Campaigns as mop like. But the most high profile person to do so is this man. James comey. Before becoming fbi director, he made a name for himself investigating the gambino crime family. He knows Mafia Tactics look like up close. During the early days of the Trump Administration, trump put pressure on him to any investigation into his National Security advisor, Michael Flynn. He asked them to publicly confirm that trump was not under investigation. Trump said he wanted loyalty from his fbi director. When james comey did not give him that loyalty, trump fired him. This was how james comey went on to describe his interactions with president trump. I had a flashback to my days investigating the mafia. I felt this effort maybe this was not their intention, but we were all part of the messaging and part of the effort. The boss is at the head of the table and we figure out together how to do this. How strange is it to sit here to compare the president to a mob boss . Very strange. And i dont do it lightly and im not trying to suggest that he is out breaking legs and shaking down shopkeepers, but what im talking about is that Leadership Culture constantly comes back to me when i think about my experience with the Trump Administration. So he had a Front Row Seat to the style of management and we were reminded of that during this trial. During a Pivotal Moment in testimony, david pecker said he walked in on the trump meeting between the president elect, james comey, and several members of trumps step. He was there to update him on the Hush Money Arrangement that his magazine orchestrated with karen mcdougal. James comey was there to brief him on the existence of the steele dossier. David pecker said that when he introduced him to the others, trump joe, here is the owner and publisher of the National Enquirer and he probably knows more than anyone else in this room. The suggestion being that a Tablet Publisher would know more than the director of the fbi because in trumps world, the person who knows the most is the one who is the most loyal. Joining me now is james comey, former director of the fbi. And the author of two fictional crime novels. The latest details a murder at the largest hedge fund. It is great to see you. We will get your book in a minute. I have to ask you. We talked so much about the way you characterized the Trump Administration and over the course of the last few weeks as we had revelation upon revelation how trump and his associates operate. As youve watched this from the sidelines, give us the hypothesis, this is a form of organized crime. What he thought about this . It felt familiar to me. I found my own reactions were so dramatic that i tried to suppress it but kept coming back. It is back fully now. They even did the cosa nostra trick of bringing people to court to rattle the witness. Michael corleone brings someone. But even dress like the mobsters do. It felt familiar. We read that excerpt from david testimony. Your there. He enters the room. And trump says he knows more than anyone else here. To remember that meeting . I dont want to comment on a witnesss testimony until the jury has rendered a verdict, but i wrote down everything that happened and it doesnt mean that hes being dishonest. He just might have a different recollection than i do. Just we have some of the checks that trump signed are also on key dates in the administration. The day that donald trump sent a 70,000 check to Michael Cohen reimbursing him for the hush money payments, that is the same day that he was pressuring you to end Michael Flynn investigation. Im not presuming you know about the checks, but it suggests that he may have been multitasking. And i wonder as we go back to the idea that the Trump Organization and the Trump Presidency may have operated in a Syndicate Like fashion, what parallels do you see in the boss being involved in all the business. He turned the oval office into a social club. And people just came in with the business at hand. Some of it was government and apparently some of it was private. I was not there to see him. I was there to see the Chief Of Staff who said, do you want to visit the boss . And i said, im sure hes busy. And he said, come on. Come on. That sounds very much like a godfather kind of, come in and kiss the ring. And they he ushered me and and that was one of my encounters with the president. But it seems like there were these colorful characters that were mixing in with the normal daytoday affairs of the white house. Did it strike you as odd or is that just the way he was . I had seen other president s up close. And because of the responsibilities they exercise a certain amount of discipline and Information Management but this was chaotic. That was the way of this particular boss. Weve been talking so much about the way in which the prosecution is laying out a case that suggests that the Trump Campaign was desperate to quell another october surprise. We did not learn about Stormy Daniels in the hours leading up to election day. We heard more about Hillary Clintons emails. I know you played an instrumental role in that, and i wonder how you think about the Information Control in and around election and whether you have regrets . I have a deep and lasting regret that we were involved at all. I felt in the exact moment i was briefed with what happened on the 27th of october. As we were wrestling with this nightmare trying to figure out which of our options was the least bad, all this was going on trying to suppress information. I knew nothing about it and tried not to think about the political and making that decision, but its a strange overlap. But can i ask you about this desire to not think about the political . This particular department of justice, especially in the early days, seems very concerned about appearing to political. In the aftermath of january 6, there were people who said Merrick Garland and the doj were too concerned about going after trump after january 6. They started the investigation to slow and shouldve started from the top down. Do you have an opinion . Is someone who caught a lot of rocks, i am reluctant to throw and a, but i learned some lessons and they were too slow. And it has cost us because we got a special counsel late in the game and we are stuck the way we are. So i wouldve hoped they wouldve moved faster. But given when they came into office with they were trying to comps, i get why they did it. How do you feel when you think this Hush Money Trial is the only criminal trial that goes forward. But given where the calendar is, this is the only one that the American Public will have a verdict on before the election. As a former lawenforcement guy, are you frustrated by that yes. But ive also found this trial to be a great civics lesson for the american people. It appears more are paying attention and they are seeing this is how it works. You might not lose ters when you shoot someone in the middle of fifth avenue, but you will be held accountable. Have to sit at that table no matter who you are and shut up and the jury is what matters. And this is how it works and its a great lesson for the american people. The rule of law has passed the stress test. Slow on the federal side, but this is a great example. You say it past the stress test. Are you concerned it may have a test unlike any other if trump is reelected . When you think about a second Trump Administration, what are the implications for the fbi . Serious for the Justice Department and fbi because hes coming for those institutions. He has regrets he did work hard enough to corrupt them and its a danger for all americans. He will put people in positions and he didnt have allstars last time. He will have the bottom of the barrel this time. And that should worry every american. This election matters because people have to participate. You cannot sit on the sideline. I dont care how you it feel about joe biden, because the consequences on the other side are too severe. You have written two books. And they are best sellers, which got kudos. Youre billed as a New York Times bestselling author. Is this just another act . It is something that ive done that ive fallen in love with. Im a grandfather and a full time writer and that fills my life. I am writing about the things i know, but im glad that other people are bearing the responsibilities that i once had. Im sure that youre happy to be a footnote and not the subject itself. New york times bestselling author, james comey, the author of the novel, westport, which is on sale. It has been a pleasure to talk to you about this. Great to be with you. Coming up, election denial is proving expensive for Rudy Giuliani. s new financial lifeline is decaf rudy. And now the tricky part begins and what happens next exactly after the break. Smile you found it. The feeling of Finding Psoriasis cant filter out the real you. So go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a oncedaily pill for moderate to severe Plaque Psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. Its like the feeling of finding youre so ready for your closeup. Or finding you dont have to hide your skin just your background. 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Choose advil liquigels for faster, stronger and longerlasting relief than tylenol rapid release gels because advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. So for faster pain relief, advil the pain away. And theyre all coming . Becthose who are stillpain at the swith us, yes. Ammation. Grandpa whats this . Your wings. Light em up gentlemen, its a beautiful. Day to fly. With absorbine pro, pain wont hold you back from your passions. Its the only solution with two maxstrength anesthetics to deliver the strongest numbing pain relief available. So, do your thing like a pro, painfree. Absorbine pro. Do plan to testify in court . Probably so. I would like to. I think so. Today the defense rested in the Hush Money Trial were donald trump did not end up testifying. Robert costello, did testify that the goal of undermining Michael Cohens credibility. It did not exactly work out that way. Instead handed up cooperating parts of Michael Cohens testimony. I may 14th he said i did not trust him and i believed based upon all of our conversations that he would immediately run back to mr. Giuliani and that would be divulged to president trump. It confirmed exactly that. Showing that Robert Costello is a back channel to trump and Rudy Giuliani as Michael Cohen claimed. Joining me now are Kristy Greenberg and duncan levin. Thank you for being here tonight. There is a lot of specific legal stuff i want to get to. But was it a good idea for the defense to end with Robert Costello . It was a horrible idea. It help to bolster Michael Cohens credibility. Anything that makes Michael Cohen smell like a rose, its a bad idea for the defense. But these emails are oozing with slime. said he wanted to be my lawyer, but i didnt trust him. I thought he was working with donald trump, and today we get emails with they are pretty explicit. We have to make it appear that we are not acting under the instruction of Rudy Giuliani or the present. And the defense knows that they exist. Why would you call this guy. Putting aside all the antics where he was blatantly disrespectful. It is maddening. But all those things, the style and the substance was a total train neck for the defense. In no Uncertain Terms a bad idea. The stage we are at now is the judge is deliberating on decisions about the instructions that the jury will be given, which is very important. But this is where the rubber meets the road. Not everything can be as sexy as hush money payments. But this is like the fine print of the contract. This is how the jury interacts with the evidence for. And the judge has not ruled formally on most of the requests, but it looks like it was a mixed bag for the prosecution. The prosecution had big victory eight meaningful victory in some of the small print. Two of the elements of the offense are the falsification of Business Records was done with the intent to defraud and conceal the commission of another offense. That is the felony charge. And the prosecution had two victories. They are not two separate things. The intent to defraud and conceal the commission of another crime are the same thing. But the more interesting thing is it looks like judge merchan is rolling that not all the teachers need to be unanimous. In the way in which he covered up this conspiracy to promote an election by unlawful means meaning that one sure could decide that the Stormy Daniel did it. Another could say it was a tax payment that did it and they dont need to agree. It gives the prosecution a lot of flexibility. That seems like something that alvin bragg foresaw. All along it was like we understand what the misdemeanor is. To make it a felony there needs to be the secondary steppedup charge and it could be a number of things. And what are those things . And he never outlined clearly one thing and it sounds like the judge said its fine. Jurors can come t