QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador filed a complaint Monday at the top U.N. court over what it called Mexico’s illegal move to grant political asylum to a former Ecuadorian vice president, which led to Ecuador’s highly criticized raid on a Mexican embassy earlier this month.
The Ecuadorian complaint at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands intensifies a high-profile diplomatic quarrel with Mexico, which has filed its own complaint with the panel alleging that Ecuador’s highly unusual April 5 raid to arrest Jorge Glas was illegal.
Ecuador’s counterclaim is that Glas was a fugitive wanted on corruption convictions and not for political reasons, and that therefore he was not eligible for Mexico’s diplomatic protection. Ecuadorian authorities forcibly entered the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest the former Ecuadorian vice president hours after Mexico granted him asylum.
Mexico failed to comply with “its obligations not to grant asylum to people who are being prosecuted or on trial for common crimes or have been convicted by competent ordinary courts,” Ecuador's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Glas, who was convicted in two corruption cases, had been living at the diplomatic compound in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, since December. He is now being held at a maximum security prison at the port city of Guayaquil.
The court said in a statement that Ecuador “accuses Mexico of unlawfully granting Mr Glas political asylum and of interfering in its internal affairs.”
Security camera video released by Mexico’s government shows that Ecuadorian police scaled the embassy walls and broke into the building. Roberto Canseco, Mexico’s head of consular affairs in Ecuador, tried to keep them from entering, even pushing a large cabinet in front of a door. But police restrained him and pushed him to the floor as they carried Glas out.
Authorities are currently investigating Glas over alleged irregularities during his management of reconstruction efforts following a powerful earthquake in 2016 that killed hundreds of people. He previously was convicted on two separate bribery and corruption cases.
Diplomatic premises are considered foreign soil and “inviolable” under the Vienna treaties and host country law enforcement agencies are not allowed to enter without permission from the ambassador.
Legal experts, Latin American presidents and diplomats swiftly condemned Ecuador's extremely rare show of force. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro even ordered the closure of his country’s embassy and consulates in Ecuador in solidarity with Mexico.
Immediately after the raid, Mexico broke diplomatic relations with Ecuador, recalled its diplomatic staff and closed its embassy and consulates. Days later, it filed a complaint with the court.
In its case filed April 11, Mexico asked the World Court to order Ecuador to take “appropriate and immediate steps to provide full protection and security of diplomatic premises” and prevent any further intrusions. It also wants Ecuador to let Mexico clear its diplomatic premises and the homes of its diplomats in the country.
Mexico also asked the court to award reparation and suspend Ecuador from the United Nations. Hearings on Mexico's case are set to begin Tuesday.
FILE - Ecuador's Vice President Jorge Glas speaks during an interview at his office in Quito, Ecuador, Sept. 12, 2017. Ecuador announced on Monday, April 29, 2024 that it is suing Mexico before the International Court of Justice for granting political asylum to Glas who was later imprisoned after a break-in at the country's embassy in Quito, triggering the rupture of diplomatic relations between Ecuador and Mexico.(AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)
FILE - Supporters of former Vice President Jorge Glas cheer after an Ecuadorian court of justice declared that his arrest inside Mexico's embassy was illegal, in Quito, Ecuador, April 12, 2024. Ecuador announced on Monday, April 29, that it is suing Mexico before the International Court of Justice for granting political asylum to Glas who was later imprisoned after a break-in at the country's embassy in Quito, triggering the rupture of diplomatic relations between Ecuador and Mexico. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — With prosecutors’ hush money case against Donald Trump barreling toward its end, defense lawyers pressed former attorney Michael Cohen on his criminal history and past lies Thursday as they worked to convince jurors not to believe the star witness' pivotal testimony.
As Trump looked on, defense attorney Todd Blanche peppered Cohen with questions about his own misdeeds, painting him to the jury as a serial fabulist who is bent on seeing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee behind bars.
Whether the defense is successful in undermining Cohen's testimony could determine Trump's fate in the case. Over several days on the witness stand, Cohen described for jurors meetings and conversations he said he had with Trump about the alleged scheme to stifle stories about sex that threatened to torpedo Trump's 2016 campaign.
Trump's attorneys are seizing on Cohen's checkered past to try to sow doubt in jurors' minds over his version of the story, underscoring the risk of prosecutors' reliance on Cohen.
Cohen acknowledged lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate deal in Russia. He also testified that he lied under oath when he pleaded guilty to federal charges, including tax fraud, in 2018.
The defense also attacked Cohen's motivations, suggesting he turned on Trump after he was denied a White House job. Blanche confronted Cohen with a a series of text messages showing private conversations he had in November 2016. In one message, Cohen texted his daughter that he still had a shot at becoming the president’s chief of staff. Another shows Cohen telling a friend that she could serve as his assistant once he gets the position.
“The truth is, Mr. Cohen, you really wanted to work in the White House, correct?” asked Blanche. “No sir,” Cohen replied.
Cohen is by far prosecutors' most important witness, placing Trump directly at the center of the alleged scheme to silence women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with Trump. Trump denies the women’s claims. Cohen told jurors that Trump promised to reimburse him for the money he fronted and was constantly updated about behind-the-scenes efforts to bury stories feared to be harmful to his 2016 campaign.
Trump, who insists the prosecution is an effort to damage his campaign to reclaim the White House, says the payments to Cohen were properly categorized as legal expenses because Cohen was a lawyer. The defense has suggested that he was trying to protect his family, not his campaign, by squelching what he says were false, scurrilous claims.
“The crime is that they’re doing this case,” he told reporters Thursday before entering the courtroom, flanked by a group of congressional allies that included Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., the chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.
The former president has been joined at the courthouse in recent days by a slew of conservative supporters, including some considered potential vice presidential picks and others angling for future administration roles. House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared Tuesday.
Gaetz later posted a photo on social media of him standing behind Trump in court, with the words, “Standing back, and standing by, Mr. President.” That is a phrase that the Proud Boys, an extremist group whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, have used since Trump, during a 2020 campaign debate, said: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
Blanche confronted Cohen with profane social media posts, a podcast and books he wrote about the former president, getting Cohen to acknowledge that he has made millions of dollars off slamming Trump. In one clip played in court Thursday, Cohen could be heard using an expletive and saying he truly hopes “that this man ends up in prison.”
“It won’t bring back the year that I lost or the damage done to my family. But revenge is a dish best served cold,” Cohen was heard saying. “You better believe that I want this man to go down.”
Cohen acknowledged he has continued to attack Trump, even during the trial.
In one social media post cited by the defense attorney, Cohen called Trump an alliterative and explicit nickname, as well as an “orange-crusted ignoramus.” Asked if he used the phrase, Cohen responded: “Sounds correct.”
Cohen, in earlier testimony, told jurors how his life and relationship with Trump were upended after the FBI raided his office, apartment and hotel room in 2018. Trump initially showered him with affection on social media and predicted that Cohen would not “flip.” Trump's tone changed when, months later, Cohen pleaded guilty to federal campaign-finance charges and implicated him in the hush money scheme. Trump was not charged with a crime related to the federal investigation.
Cohen also described a meeting in which he says he and Trump discussed with Allen Weisselberg, a former Trump Organization chief financial officer, how the reimbursements for Cohen’s $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels would be paid as legal services over monthly installments. That’s important because prosecutors say the reimbursements were falsely logged as legal expenses to conceal the payments’ true purpose.
Defense lawyers are expected to question Cohen through the end of the day on Thursday. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office has said it will rest its case once he's done on the stand, though it could have an opportunity to call rebuttal witnesses if Trump's lawyers put on witnesses of their own.
The defense isn't obligated to call any witnesses, and it's unclear whether the attorneys will do so. Blanche told Judge Juan M. Merchan on Tuesday that the defense may call one expert witness and that there was still no determination on whether Trump would take the stand.
In any event, the trial will take Friday off so Trump can attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron.
Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Jake Offenhartz and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)
Michael Cohen departs his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in New York. The prosecutors’ star witness in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump is returning to the witness stand as defense lawyers try to chip away at Cohen’s crucial testimony implicating the former president. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)
Michael Cohen departs his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in New York. The prosecutors’ star witness in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump is returning to the witness stand as defense lawyers try to chip away at Cohen’s crucial testimony implicating the former president. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., left, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., listen as former President Donald Trump speaks to the press before his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Michael Cohen departs his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in New York. The prosecutors’ star witness in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump is returning to the witness stand as defense lawyers try to chip away at Cohen’s crucial testimony implicating the former president. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
FILE- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, and attorney Michael Cohen, left, during a visit to the Pastors Leadership Conference at New Spirit Revival Center, Sept. 21, 2016, in Cleveland. Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand Tuesday, testifying in detail how former president was linked to all aspects of a hush money scheme that prosecutors say was aimed at stifling stories that threatened his 2016 campaign. Trump is the first former U.S. president to go on trial. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)
FILE- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, and attorney Michael Cohen, right, during a visit to the Pastors Leadership Conference at New Spirit Revival Center, Sept. 21, 2016, in Cleveland. Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand Tuesday, testifying in detail how former president was linked to all aspects of a hush money scheme that prosecutors say was aimed at stifling stories that threatened his 2016 campaign. Trump is the first former U.S. president to go on trial. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)
Michael Cohen testifies as a Wall Street Journal article is displayed on a screen in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in New York. Donald Trump's fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand Tuesday, testifying in detail how former president was linked to all aspects of a hush money scheme that prosecutors say was aimed at stifling stories that threatened his 2016 campaign. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building in New York, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Cohen, former President Donald Trump’s fixer-turned-foe is returning to the witness stand for a bruising round of questioning from the former president’s lawyers. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court in New York, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court in New York, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Michael Cohen leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 13, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
