Judge in Trump trial threatened to throw witness out of court for behaviour

Former president Donald Trump speaks to the media, alongside attorney Todd Blanche, following the day’s proceedings at his hush money trial in New York (Mark Peterson/New York Magazine/AP)

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial cleared the courtroom of reporters on Monday and threatened to remove a defence witness from the trial because of his behavior on the stand, a court transcript showed.

Judge Juan M Merchan told Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor, that his conduct was “contemptuous right now”.