Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We're hearing about how Michael Cohen came to work for Donald Trump.

Cohen tells the court he never even wanted to be a lawyer - but his grandmother did not give him a choice in a family filled with doctors and attorneys.

The ex-lawyer further explains how he left his law firm Phillips Nizer to go and work for Trump.

He says that he and Trump settled on an annual salary of $375,000.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

Michael Cohen looks far more professional than the last time he appeared in court to testify in front of Donald Trump.

When he appeared at Trump’s civil business fraud trial last winter, he wore a navy blazer but ditched the tie.

Today, he is quite literally more buttoned up, wearing a proper suit jacket and pale tie - perhaps a reflection of the higher stakes of this criminal proceeding.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, EPA

Donald Trump and Michael Cohen are now in the same room for what is sure to be one of the most intense days in this criminal trial.

As we begin, Trump is fidgeting a bit in his seat and looking down, appearing to avoid his former lawyer.

Cohen looks calm and collected as he tells the court a bit about his background in his New York accent.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Michael Cohen’s criminal record is almost guaranteed to come up during his time on the stand this week.

In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges, some of which relate to the very same hush-money payment that led to this trial.

Cohen also pleaded guilty to charges he lied to Congress, when he gave testimony on about his involvement in Trump’s foreign real estate interests.

He went to prison and served about three years in total - more than a year in a prison facility and a year-and-a-half in home confinement.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The jury is seated and prosecutors have just called Michael Cohen to the stand.

He enters the room wearing a blue suit and light pink tie.

Trump's former fixer has just sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

The problem prosecutors face with Michael Cohen as a witness is how he comes across to the jury, former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner says.

Speaking with my colleague Nada Tawfik outside court just moments ago, Epner says the prosecution will have one goal.

"What I would expect prosecutors to say is Michael Cohen may be disgusting to you and me… but the things that make Michael Cohen so disgusting to you and me make him attractive to Donald Trump.. someone willing to lie and cheat and steal," Epner says.

Epner says he thinks Cohen's testimony will be long, "I think it may even be counterproductively long".

He says Cohen has been going after Trump in ”very ugly ways”, particularly on social media.

And if that pattern continues in the courtroom, it could be problematic.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Justice Merchan has just taken his seat in court. The jury is coming in before prosecutors call their first witness.

We should be starting up here shortly.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, EPA

Donald Trump has just walked into court with a larger than usual entourage, including lawyers and his son Eric Trump, following behind him.

He also has some political allies with him. Nicole Malliotakis, the congresswoman who represents Staten Island, is seated behind Trump. JD Vance, the senator from Ohio, and Tommy Tuberville, the senator from Alabama, have decided to join him in court today as well.

The former president has chosen to wear a blue suit and blue tie today.

Donald Trump is speaking to cameras in the court hallways.

He starts off by reading from several pieces of papers. They are quotes from various people who have commented on the case and support Trump's view that the trial has no merit.

Trump then complains about his supporters not being able to get close to court because of security measures.

And he goes on the attack against President Joe Biden, calling him incompetent.

He does not comment on Michael Cohen.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

Michael Cohen’s appearance in court today will make for a tense reunion with his old boss, Donald Trump.

Formerly Trump’s personal lawyer and confidante, Cohen once pledged he would take a bullet for Trump.

But all that began to change when authorities started to investigate Cohen over the Stormy Daniels hush-money payment, and other crimes.

He even went to prison, in part for the money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Since his release from prison, Cohen has transformed into a constant critic of the former president.

He has called him a host of names, including in the days leading up to his testimony.

Trump has complained about not being able to hit back at Cohen because of his gag order in this trial.

He won’t be able to say much in court today either, when Cohen is expected to take the stand just feet away from them to tell his version of the events.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Michael Cohen’s presence has hovered over the entire proceedings like a pugnacious ghost.

Witnesses, prosecutors, and defence lawyers have invoked his name over and over again and now, he will finally appear.

He was even foreshadowed in opening statements.

Prosecutor Michael Colaneglo, likely trying to head off attacks from Trumps team, told the jury they “will need to keep an open mind" about Cohen, and "keep in mind all the evidence that corroborates Michael Cohen's testimony".

Shortly after, Todd Blanche, Trump's lead lawyer, said Cohen remained "obsessed" with Trump "to this day," and that he "rants and raves" about the former president.

"I submit to you that he cannot be trusted," Blanche said.

Let's take a moment to zoom out, and look at what the case is all about.

Donald Trump has been charged with business fraud over hush-money payments to ex-porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Daniels claims she and Trump had sex, and that she accepted $130,000 (£104,500) from his former lawyer before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about the encounter.

Prosecutors allege Trump had his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, make the payments, and then they claim Trump fraudulently recorded the transaction in his company’s books as legal expenses when in fact he was paying Cohen back for the hush-money payments.

Paying hush-money is not illegal, but the prosecution says how the payment was recorded amounts to election fraud. They say it denied voters information about a presidential candidate.

Since the allegations surfaced in 2018, the former president has denied any sexual involvement with Daniels.

He's facing 34 counts of fraud under campaign finance laws, and has pleaded not guilty to all of them.

Brandon Livesay
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Donald Trump's hush-money trial in New York.

It's expected to be a massive day, with Trump's friend-turned-foe Michael Cohen to testify.

Cohen has been photographed entering the courthouse and Donald Trump has also been seen leaving his penthouse at Trump Tower.

The last time both men saw each other was last year at one of Trump's other court cases, his civil fraud trial.

Before that, they hadn't been in the same room together for five years.

Cohen is a key witness to the hush-money trial. He is the person who paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to cover up her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump.

Prosecutors allege Trump then covered up the reimbursement to Cohen, and they claim that it amounted to election fraud because it deprived voters of information about a presidential candidate.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and also denies having an alleged sexual encounter with Daniels.