'Resembles a strawberry': Insiders say judge's dressing down left witness bright red

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, after becoming visibly angered by Trump defense witness Robert Costello, cleared the courtroom of the jury and the press before admonishing the “MAGA-friendly lawyer” Monday afternoon in the ex-president’s criminal “hush money” trial. MERCHAN: ‘You don’t give me side eye and you don’t roll your eyes’ COSTELLO: I understand.” Phang added, “When the media were allowed back in, Costello is seated at the witness stand looking decidedly chastened. Merchan looks calm.” The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports the judge didn’t calmly just clear the courtroom: MSNBC legal contributor Lisa Rubin called it, “one of the wildest things I’ve ever seen in court.” And while CNN’s Collins noted the jury was not in the courtroom for exchange, Phang reports: “Although the dressing down of Costello took place outside of earshot of the jury, they witnessed firsthand Costello’s demeanor and petulance and heard firsthand his quips and remarks from the witness stand. Perhaps Costello just reinforced to the jury why Cohen didn’t want to keep Costello as his lawyer…Costello is pandering for an audience of one: Trump.” MSNBC legal analyst Kristy Greenberg noted, “Michael Cohen was respectful.