Cohen grilled relentlessly about past crimes at Trump trial
With Kayla Epstein, Phil McCausland and Nada Tawfik reporting from court in New York
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With Kayla Epstein, Phil McCausland and Nada Tawfik reporting from court in New York
Live Reporting
Edited by Brandon Livesay and Tiffany Wertheimer
All times stated are UK
Trump arrives at court
Donald Trump has arrived and is speaking to media outside of the courtroom.
Behind him is Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, the latest in a long line of Trump supporters who have appeared at this trial.
Trump talks about his political campaign, saying "polls are through the roof".
He then criticises the trial, as he has done every morning since it began.
What has Cohen already said?
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court
Today, Donald Trump’s lawyers will continue their cross examination of Michael Cohen, the key witness in the case.
Their questioning on Tuesday focused on impeaching Cohen’s character and credibility before the jury.
Lawyer Todd Blanche dredged up Cohen’s prolific social media posts and podcast episodes where he criticised Trump and called him profane names.
Blanche entered into evidence a T-shirt Cohen sold on his podcast web store, showing Trump in a prison uniform and handcuffs.
Cohen mostly kept his cool during questions that could have riled his temper, though he tried to hedge his responses to some of the social media comments he'd made about Trump.
But by the end of Tuesday, Blanche had yet to grill Cohen on the damaging testimony he gave earlier - that Trump allegedly had knowledge of the plan for Cohen to pay $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels, and later falsely categorised the reimbursements to Cohen as legal expenses.
We may be getting questions on this matter later today, along with further attempts to convince the jury that Cohen cannot be trusted.
Michael Cohen heads to court
Michael Cohen has been photographed on his way to the New York courthouse.
Court starts at 09:30 local time (14:30 BST).
Donald Trump will likely arrive in the next 15-20 minutes, and we can expect him to speak to media in the hallway just outside the courtroom.
You'll be able to watch his arrival and statement by pressing the play button at the top of this page.
People try to sell their spot in court line for $400
Phil McCausland
Reporting from court
The line to get into court is a bit of a zoo today, as it has been during Michael Cohen’s much-anticipated testimony.
Journalists and members of the public have paid people to wait in line overnight for them.
And this system has led to some disagreements between those in line, court officers and others hoping to make it into court today.
The intermittent rain in New York has not helped.
There are a fair number of people in front of me despite my early morning arrival (05:00 local time).
One line sitter’s patron apparently didn’t show up, and I’ve been asked multiple times if I’d like to buy her spot for $400.
I’ve decided to hang onto my spot a fair ways back.
Cross-examination is yet to touch on a key point
Phil McCausland
Reporting from court
Good morning from the line to enter the Manhattan courthouse.
I’ve been here since 5:00 local time (10:00 BST), joining dozens of reporters and members of the public.
We’re all here to witness what is expected to be Michael Cohen’s final day of testimony.
Trump’s former lawyer is currently being questioned by his ex-boss’s legal defence team.
Thus far Trump’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, has focused his cross-examination on Cohen’s reputation and dislike of the former president. This is all part of a strategy aimed at discrediting him.
But he has not yet touched on Cohen’s allegations that he made during prosecutors’ questioning: That Trump had approved of Cohen’s hush money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels and agreed to reimburse him by falsifying business records.
Michael Cohen is back on the witness stand
Tiffany Wertheimer
US reporter
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Michael Cohen’s third day of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial.
As his personal lawyer, Cohen once said he’d take a bullet for the former president.
Not anymore.
After spending three years incarcerated for lying to Congress and campaign finance violations, he became an ardent critic of Donald Trump, and has attacked him frequently.
At this trial, Cohen has calmly testified that he paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 ahead of the 2016 election to stay quiet about allegedly having sex with Trump, and that Trump knew the payments would be incorrectly listed as legal fees in his business records.
For their part, Donald Trump’s legal team worked to discredit Cohen as a liar who is obsessed with hating Trump.
Stay with us, there is bound to be more blockbuster moments in court today.