Public impeachment hearings into Donald Trump begin Wednesday with witnesses set to be grilled by high-ranking Democrats and Republicans.
Two star lawyers are also expected to play a prominent role in the questioning, including the man who looks set to become Trump’s new nemesis – Daniel Goldman.
Goldman, who will be assisting Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff with his interrogations, is a former federal prosecutor in the feared Manhattan office, who spent a decade helping to take down some of New York’s most-wanted.
Working as part of the Violent & Organized Crime Unit for the Southern District of New York he helped bring cases against both the Italian Mafia and Russian mob.
With three hours to ago Trump himself launched a Hail Mary attempt to get Goldman out, tweeting that Goldman was ‘a high priced outside lawyer,’ and adding: ‘Did that lawyer ever work for me, which would be a conflict?’
Technically Goldman did; he was assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York from November 2007 until November 2017.
But he has hardly made any secret of his hostility to the president since then, declaring on MSNBC that Trump had committed a ‘felony’ to get elected.
Daniel Goldman, a former New York prosecutor who helped take down Mafia hitmen and Russian mobsters, will lead Democrats in questioning impeachment witnesses
Goldman, who has also worked as a legal commentator for MSNBC in which he was frequently critical of Donald Trump, will be given 45 minutes to quiz each witness
Yale and Stanford-law educated, Goldman clerked for two Bill Clinton-appointed federal judges before joining the famously independent Southern District of New York.
It nicknames itself the sovereign district and was once -ironically – led by Rudy Giuliani, in his days as a Mafia buster, which was what Goldman initially became.
He joined as assistant district attorney in 2007 and in 2009 he was involved in the prosecution and subsequent conviction of Fotios ‘Freddy’ Geas, a hit-man for the Genovese crime family.
Geas was sentenced to life in prison in 2011 alongside his brother, Ty, and former Genovese crime boss Arthur ‘Artie’ Nigro.
The trio were convicted of the contract killing of rival mob boss Adolfo ‘Big Al’ Bruno, who was gunned down outside a club in Massachusetts in 2003, and the murder of mob figure Gary Westerman in the same year.
Goldman’s talents were also put to work busting a wide-ranging insurance racket being run by the Russian mob.
In 2012, federal prosecutors led by Preet Bharara – who was later fired by Trump – indicted 35 people in a $275million no-fault insurance scam, which was the largest of its kind ever uncovered at the time.
Among the accused was reputed Russian mobster Mikhail Zemlyansky, also known as ‘Russian Mike’, and three of his associates: Skinny Mike, Fat Mike and Mike B.
Prosecutors said Zemlyansky exploited legislation guaranteeing car accident victims up to $50,000 in damages even if nobody was found to be at fault.
The scheme involved more than 100 clinics, thousands of patients, 10 corrupt doctors and three lawbreaking lawyers, prosecutors said.
During his ten years as a prosecutor with the Southern District of New York’s Violent & Organized Crime Unit, he helped secure convictions against Mikhail ‘Russian Mike’ Zemlyansky (left) for fraud, and Genovese family hitman Fotios ‘Freddy’ Geas (right)
Goldman was also involved in the prosecution of gambler Billy Walters for insider trading, and was specifically hired to the team because of his courtroom ‘swagger’
Family man: Daniel Goldman married his wife Corinne in Mexico in 2013
Relaxing at home: Daniel and Corinne Goldman live in New York with their five young children
In 2015 Zemlyansky was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 15 years in jail. In total, 30 people were convicted in the case.
Two years later, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke Cucinella specifically requested Goldman for her team to lead a prosecution against Las Vegas gambler Billy Walters for insider stock trading.
Cucinella knew the trial would attract media attention, and wanted Goldman on board for his ‘swagger’ and ability to control a courtroom.
Walters was eventually found guilty on all counts and sentenced to five years.
Speaking to the Washington Post about Goldman, Bharara said: ‘He was one of the go-to trial guys, and there’s no case that’s too complex for him.
‘He’s a great prosecutor and he’s got a very powerful presence.
Facing off against Goldman will be Steve Castor, who has served Republicans on the Oversight committee for a decade
‘To the extent the public will be watching and looking for a credible questioner, I think they will be very impressed with Dan Goldman.’
Goldman quit the Southern District in November 2017, and worked as a legal analyst for MSNBC, commenting at length on the Russia investigation.
In December 2018, he told Morning Joe anchor Joe Scarborough – as Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen changed his plea to guilty – that the president had committed a crime to get elected.
‘I think legally we already now know that the president has committed a felony to obtain the office of the presidency,’ he told the show.
‘He is likely not going to be charged with that.’
In December last year, shortly after Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, Goldman told The Independent that he would be ‘comfortable’ charging the President with the same crime.
‘As a former prosecutor I would feel comfortable charging the president with felony campaign finance fraud based on what we know now, so long as Michael Cohen could be used as a witness – and if the president could actually be indicted,’ he said.
He was first recruited by Adam Schiff to help coordinate Democrat investigations into Trump in February this year, as six House committees ran separate probes into the President which have now been brought together in the impeachment inquiry.
That ended a lucrative period of private practice and media appearances for the 43-year-old married father of five.
The public phase of the inquiry begins 10am Wednesday, with Ukraine diplomat Ambassador William Taylor and then Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent testifying.
Each of the men will be questioned by Schiff and top-ranking Republican Devin Nunes, although Schiff says he will hand a significant portion of his time – up to 45 minutes – to Goldman.
The Republicans have their own attorney, Steve Castor, who has been a lawyer for the Oversight and Government Affairs Committee for more than a decade.
Central to the impeachment hearing will be whether Donald Trump used his office to secure personal gain, including pressuring Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky (left) to dig up political dirt on rival Joe Biden
House Chairman Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, will make an opening statement and begin questioning of the witnesses before Goldman takes over
Ambassador William Taylor and State Department official George Kent are the first witnesses at Wednesday’s televised impeachment hearing
Democrat and Republican representatives from three committees will then have five minutes each to question the witnesses.
At issue is whether Donald Trump abused his position as President to advance his own private interests – specifically digging up dirt on rival Joe Biden.
‘Did the President—directly or through agents—seek to use the power of the Office of the President and other instruments of the federal government in other ways to apply pressure on the head of state and government of Ukraine to advance the President’s personal political interests, including by leveraging an Oval Office meeting desired by the President of Ukraine or by withholding U.S. military assistance to Ukraine?’ Adam Schiff wrote in a memo ahead of the hearings.
‘Did the President and his Administration seek to obstruct, suppress or cover up information to conceal from the Congress and the American people evidence about the President’s actions and conduct?’
President Trump is sure to weigh in on the hearings as they get underway, with Goldman likely to be among his top targets.
He has repeatedly sought to attack the inquiry in public, while his administration has fiercely resisted subpoenas for witnesses and documents.
The committee room in the Longworth House Office Building that will host the House Intelligence Committee’s open impeachment hearings against President Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC
‘A total Impeachment Scam by the Do Nothing Democrats!’ Trump tweeted on Tuesday. He could try to provide online commentary – or change the subject.
He will be hosting Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and has scheduled a press conference, which gives him the ability to preempt or try to steer TV coverage.
Trump has also repeatedly hyped the transcript of an additional call he held with the Ukrainian president, saying he would release it this week.
Trump mocked the hearings in a Saturday tweet: ‘I recommend that Nervous Nancy Pelosi (who backed up Schiff’s lie), Shifty Adam Schiff, Sleepy Joe Biden, the Whistleblower (who miraculously disappeared after I released the transcript of the call), the 2nd Whistleblower (who also disappeared), & the I.G., be part of the list!’
The New York Times reported Tuesday Trump had spoken about firing the IG, who holds an independent post.