What to know about the trial today
- Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand today for more cross-examination from former President Donald Trump's lawyers in the hush money trial.
- Cohen grew combative Tuesday under cross-examination from the defense, which has tried to depict him as untruthful and biased against Trump. There will be no trial tomorrow so that the former president can attend his son Barron Trump's high school graduation.
- Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement to Cohen for the payment he made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. The former president has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denies the affair.
Merchan goes over scheduling of rest of trial
Judge Merchan discussed scheduling, telling both sides that it's not ideal to have a big gap between summations and the jury charge.
Blanche said he intends to finish his cross of Cohen before the morning break Monday, and there is a possibility both sides will be done with the presentation of evidence on Monday.
But Blanche left open the possibility of both Trump and a mystery witness until the next day; he told them to be prepared to sum up Tuesday.
Jurors are excused for the day, Cohen back on the stand Monday
Judge Merchan has excused the jurors for the day.
Cohen is scheduled to return to the stand Monday for further testimony.
Court is out of session on Friday so that Trump can attend his son Barron's high school graduation.
Trump team shows Cohen statement about FEC complaint to jury
The defense team entered into evidence a statement from Cohen regarding a Federal Election Commission complaint, and Trump lawyer Todd Blanche highlighted the last paragraph.
“Just because something isn’t true doesn’t mean that it can’t cause you harm or damage. I will always protect Mr. Trump," the paragraph read.
Cohen apparently recorded calls with reporters in 2018 in which he pitched them on that statement.
Robert Costello says he is available and willing to testify
Robert Costello told NBC News that he is available to testify.
He said that while testifying is always a possibility, he so far has not been asked to take the stand.
Costello said that if needed, he is prepared with his contemporaneous notes from the time.
Michael Cohen confirms Trump didn't sign NDA
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Cohen to confirm that the former president had never signed the nondisclosure agreement.
“That’s correct,” Cohen said.
Cohen says a retainer agreement wasn't needed when he was at the Trump Organization
Defense lawyer Todd Blanche asked Cohen if he lacked a retainer agreement with Trump and his family members at the time he was working for the Trump Organization.
Cohen agreed it was not necessary when he worked for Trump's company, and Blanche elicited that Cohen’s failure to execute a retainer agreement with Trump in 2017 was nothing out of the ordinary.
Cohen testifies that ABC offered cash for Stormy Daniels' story
During cross-examination, Cohen told the jury that ABC offered cash for Stormy Daniels' story.
Keith Davidson, Daniels' former lawyer, testified earlier in the trial that ABC had offered the adult film star a spot on the TV show "Dancing With the Stars."
Cohen says he had concerns about identity theft
Defense lawyer Todd Blanche is walking Cohen through an instance when he was in a meeting with Trump to discuss using financing or cash for shutting down the Karen McDougal story — and recording the conversation — but abruptly answered a phone call in the middle of it.
Cohen testified that he is not completely sure what the call was for, but said he believes Capital One bank was calling him because of an identity theft issue. Cohen said that's why he believes he answered the phone while in the middle of recording his meeting with Trump.
Trump lawyer tries to differentiate between Trump's use of the word 'cash' and actual dollar bills
Blanche is trying to imply that when Trump talked on that recording about paying cash, he didn’t mean actual dollar bills but that he was distinguishing between paying his own money and financing.
Cohen is resisting that characterization while acknowledging that he frequently told the world that Trump paid “all cash” for real estate.
Michael Cohen says Trump didn't ‘initially’ think Karen McDougal story would hurt him
Speaking about the story that came out about the detail with McDougal, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked, “President Trump, at least initially, did not think it would hurt him, correct?”
"Initially, yes," Cohen said.
Cohen confirmed that one of the things Trump was worried about with that story was his wife and children.