Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

After Donald Trump was elected, Michael Cohen pitched himself as a personal attorney to the president.

He even enlisted a historian, he testifies, that helped him draft a memo about why such a role was crucial to a president.

Cohen tried to explain to Trump "the importance and necessity of having a personal attorney for his own protection, and why I fit exactly that role”.

He envisioned a "hybrid" role where he could have access to Trump as president, but still be "able to monetise my relationship" with other companies.

As we know, however, he didn't get the job.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The prosecution just quizzed Michael Cohen about his anger over not being appointed a White House role in Donald Trump’s administration.

Were you frustrated? Susan Hoffinger asks Cohen.

"Yes," Cohen says.

“I didn’t want the role. I didn’t believe that the role was right for me or that I was even competent to be the chief of staff. I just wanted my name to be included,” he tells the court.

“It was more about my ego than anything," he adds.

Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Keith Davidson spoke about this topic earlier in the trial, when he said Cohen lashed out after not getting a job.

Davidson suggested Cohen was experiencing a mental health crisis after finding out.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

We just had a very short break where Donald Trump briefly left the courtroom.

Before the recess, Susan Hoffinger said that the prosecution's questioning, known as direct examination, might wind up going into tomorrow.

This isn't surprising, as they still have a lot of topics to cover with Michael Cohen.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

Michael Cohen says that the Wall Street Journal story was seen as a "a real serious problem".

He says he spoke to Donald Trump via bodyguard Keith Schiller's phone to give him a rundown of the situation.

“I told him exactly who I had spoken to, my conversations with each of them," Cohen claims.

Call records show Cohen also communicated with David Pecker, the National Enquirer publisher, and Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels' lawyer, during this time period.

They wanted to "do everything within our power to protect Mr Trump", the ex-lawyer testifies.

Trump was angry on the call, Cohen claims. "because there was a negative story that once again could impact the campaign".

We also got a glimpse of other fallout from the Wall Street Journal story about Karen McDougal's payout.

Prosecutors show emails between Cohen and Trump's campaign press secretary, Hope Hicks.

They swap drafts of public denials, talking back and forth about what to say.

Cohen also says he reached out to Keith Davidson to make sure his client, Stormy Daniels, hadn't decided to "go rogue".

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

On 4 November 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported on the payout to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to obtain and conceal her story about an alleged affair with Donald Trump.

We are now seeing call records that appear to prove Cohen and Trump spoke that night.

Cohen got a text from Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller, asking if he could speak to Trump soon. Cohen replied, "of course."

Records displayed in court show a call between Cohen and Schiller's phone. Cohen testifies that the call was actually with Trump, but conducted on Schiller's phone.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Once again, prosecutors pull phone records to show that Michael Cohen and Donald Trump were speaking by phone at the time.

Cohen called Trump on 28 October, 2016 for more than five minutes.

This is the same day that the non-disclosure agreement with Stormy Daniels was finalised.

He wanted to tell Trump “that this matter is now completely under control and locked down, pursuant to the non-disclosure agreement”.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Michael Cohen says he eventually wired the $130,000 in hush money to Daniels' lawyer, and she signed the settlement agreement and additional documents that bound her to silence.

Did you let Mr Trump know? Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asks.

"Immediately," Cohen replies.

Cohen says he told Trump “so he would know…the task he gave to me was finished, accomplished, and done”.

Cohen also wanted Trump to know that he had accomplished an important task, and wanted to receive credit for handling it.

Trump's name and signature does not appear on the actual non-disclosure agreement - rather, the agreement identifies him by a pseudonym, "David Dennison".

Cohen signed on Trump's behalf, he testified, with the initials "EC" - the initials of Essential Consultants LLC, the company he created to facilitate the transaction.

Trump's signature could not appear anywhere, Cohen says, because he was a presidential candidate and it was not in his interest.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

Records show Michael Cohen called Donald Trump twice on 26 October, 2016.

That date comes right before he opened up an account at First Republic Bank. The account was used in the transfer of the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels.

“I wanted to ensure that... he approved what I was doing - because I required approval from him on all of this,” Cohen says.

Prosecutors are trying to show that Cohen took these actions at the behest of Trump.

Cohen claims he sought to hide Trump's involvement when he was filling out the necessary bank forms.

“It was to protect him and to isolate him from the transaction," Cohen said.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Prosecutors are showing records of calls and encrypted Signal communications that show Michael Cohen's frenzy of activity as he tried to stop Stormy Daniels' story from going public before the election.

Cohen and David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer, called each other multiple times on Signal. The calls kept dropping because of an issue with the app.

Cohen says the calls were to discuss the Daniels matter.

Several calls were exchanged between Cohen and Keith Davidson, Daniels' former lawyer, for the same reason.

Cohen also called Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg. Cohen testifies that this was to discuss the funding of the payout for the non-disclosure agreement with Daniels.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

The court is hearing how Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Keith Davidson, warned that the adult-film star planned to tell her story to the Daily Mail if the deal fell through.

In need of cash, Michael Cohen first asked Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg if he would front the payment - Weisselberg made more money.

The Trump executive demurred, saying he was not in a place financially to make the payment.

With the looming election making the matter urgent, “I ultimately said, okay. I’ll pay", Cohen testifies.

Weisselberg assured him he'd be paid back, Cohen tells the court.

Later on, Cohen says: "Allen and I spoke to Mr Trump and we expressed to him that I was going to front the money" for the hush-money payment.

Trump was "appreciative", Cohen says.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

The court has just been shown a text message from Donald Trump's wife, Melania, which was sent to Michael Cohen on 18 October, 2016.

She asked him to "pls call DT on his cell".

"Of course," Cohen replied some 30 seconds after receiving the message.

This may have been shown by the prosecution to display how Cohen was ready to help at a moment's notice when it came to his former boss.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

Michael Cohen may have frustrated the judge, prosecutors, and defence team with his conduct outside of the courtroom.

But on the stand, he's on his best behaviour.

Cohen calls his ex-boss, "Mr Trump," rather than the occasionally profane nicknames he uses for the former president on social media.

When he replies to prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, he calls her, "Ma'am".

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

We're going over communications between Michael Cohen and his banker, Gary Farro, from First Republic Bank.

Farro earlier testified about an account Cohen opened to funnel a hush-money payment to Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels' lawyer at the time. Prosecutors used Farro to introduce documents about Cohen's bank account.

We've written about some of Cohen's credibility weaknesses. During opening statements, prosecutor Michael Colangelo asked the jury to "keep in mind all the evidence that corroborates Michael Cohen's testimony".

Now, they're making Cohen go over all of that evidence the jury has already seen.

It's almost as if the prosecutors are trying to tell the jury: See? We told you we'd back this up.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Earlier in the trial, lawyer Keith Davidson testified that he thought Michael Cohen might be stalling the payout to his client Stormy Daniels.

Now, Cohen confirms he was trying to delay.

We see an email where Cohen delays a response to Davidson, citing the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.

"I used the holiday, Yom Kippur", Cohen tells the courtroom, "once again, trying to delay, until after the election".

Why?

"After the election, it wouldn't matter....according to Mr Trump."

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Donald Trump has re-entered the courtroom for the afternoon session.

His son, Eric Trump, and Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio have also returned with him. We are now back in session, and Michael Cohen will return to the stand

As we wait for the jury, Cohen is sitting stonily at the witness stand. He is staring straight ahead, his mouth set in a determined frown.

Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger returns to the lectern.

With the jury now seated, we're picking up where we left off: Cohen's negotiations with Keith Davidson, the attorney who represented Stormy Daniels in 2016.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US reporter

Image source, EPA

If you're just joining us, we've heard today from Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen - the most significant day of evidence so far in the case.

Let's take a look at what he said.

• Cohen said that Trump had asked him to "handle" several hush-money payments, as well as liaise with tabloid media to pre-empt negative headlines that could impact his political career.
• He said he did so "at the direction of and for the benefit" of Trump.
• According to Cohen, Trump warned him that "a lot of women" would come forward with allegations after he launched his 2016 presidential bid.
• Cohen said that Trump was "really angry" at a perceived failure to keep Stormy Daniels from shopping her story around, calling it a "disaster" for his campaign.
• He must still be cross-examined by Trump's defence team, which has repeatedly tried to discredit Cohen. You can read more on earlier events here. But do stay with us as our live coverage continues on this page when the court reconvenes.

Trump's trial becoming campaign stop for Republicanspublished at 18:52 British Summer Time 13 May

18:52 BST 13 May

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Image source, EPA

Another big day at Donald Trump’s criminal trial has brought another crowd of Republican politicians accompanying him to the Manhattan court.

Two US senators, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and JD Vance of Ohio, have joined a handful of state officials to watch former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen take the stand as the star witness for the prosecution.

It’s another indication of how some Republicans are treating the criminal trial as an opportunity to show their support and further sharpen the partisan battle lines that are forming around his trial.

And unlike the former president, they are not bound by a gag order and can offer their opinions on the day’s testimony to the crowds of reporters at the courthouse - effectively serving as Trump’s public proxies.

Vance’s presence is particularly noteworthy, as the author-turned-senator is reportedly on Trump’s running-mate shortlist.

Other vice-presidential hopefuls may feel compelled to follow suit and make a trip to lower Manhattan in the days ahead.

Michael Cohen could make or break Trump's criminal trialpublished at 18:42 British Summer Time 13 May

18:42 BST 13 May

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

The prosecution's star witness in Donald Trump's Manhattan criminal trial could also be its biggest liability.

Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, is testifying against the man he once reverently referred to as "The Boss".

But outside the courtroom, on podcasts, television and social media, Cohen has not exactly helped the prosecution's case.

He has mocked Trump on X, calling him "sleepy Donald" and has used a profane nickname referring to the former president.

Cohen also has posted memes that appear to show Trump in prison-uniform orange, and joked on TikTok about Trump being incarcerated.

"Trump 2024?" he said during one TikTok stream, reported by ABC News.

"More like Trump 20-24 years."

Cohen's rogue behaviour, coupled with his very real criminal record, has opened the door for Trump's defence to cast doubt on this crucial player.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

While Trump and Cohen have a tumultuous past and a share great deal of resentment, it is not on display for the members of the jury who many not be so familiar with that history.

Trump and Cohen have appeared fairly composed throughout, and the jurors seem engaged and unphased as Cohen has recounted his story in a calm manner.

They occasionally take notes or look at Cohen as he talks.

How a question to the jury from weeks ago has come full circlepublished at 18:16 British Summer Time 13 May

18:16 BST 13 May

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York

During jury selection several weeks ago, prosecutors used an interesting analogy to weed out prospective jurors.

They asked if a husband hired a hitman to kill his wife, would jurors have any problem finding the husband criminally responsible for her killing?

Of course, the idea being that it’s not just about who pulled the trigger.

As expected, prosecutors are having Michael Cohen meticulously detail how every part of the alleged conspiracy and cover-up was done at Trump’s direction and for his benefit as a presidential candidate.

They have also elicited testimony to try to show that Trump consciously made efforts to avoid getting caught, to prove to jurors that he knew what he was doing was illegal.

His former fixer has said their conversations included ways to avoid a paper trail that could lead back to Trump.