Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The jury seems more engaged after a short break we had earlier, along with Susan Hoffinger's fast-paced questioning for the prosecution.

Several members are taking notes and nearly all seem to have their eyes on Michael Cohen.

One had to ask for another notepad since he ran out of space on his first.

But that momentum is derailed again for another lengthy sidebar with the judge.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The prosecution now quizzes Michael Cohen about the biggest bombshell from today: that Cohen stole $30,000 from the Trump Organization.

Cohen testified earlier that he paid tech company Red Finch $20,000, despite the Trump Organization giving Cohen $50,000 for its services.

“Why did you take that extra 30?” Hoffinger asks.

“I was angry because of the reduction in the bonus and so I just felt it was almost like self help,” Cohen says.

The ex-lawyer explains that the Trump Organization owed the Red Finch money because it had created an algorithm that would “ensure Mr Trump would rise significantly” in a presidential poll.

Hoffinger notes that Trump did not want to pay Red Finch at all.

Cohen says this was because US outlet CNBC did not move forward with the poll.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is now addressing whether Cohen had a retainer agreement for the reimbursement cheques.

“No ma’am,” he says, adding: “because there was no legal work that I was to be paid for”.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Susan Hoffinger of the Manhattan district attorney's office is up for the re-direct, another chance for prosecutors to clear up things from the cross-examination.

She begins with an important piece for their argument: countering the attack lodged by defence lawyer Todd Blanche about Michael Cohen's recollection of a 24 October 2016 phone call.

Cohen had testified to Hoffinger earlier that the call was with Trump, via his bodyguard's phone.

But Blanche theorised that Cohen was actually calling the bodyguard about a troublesome teenager who was prank calling Cohen at the time.

You testified you didn’t have a specific recollection of other matters you discussed, Hoffinger begins. Adding, but you did have a specific recollection discussing the Stormy Daniels payoff to Trump because it was important to you at that time?

"Yes," Cohen replies.

Cohen then agrees that it's possible other matters were discussed, but he was certain the Stormy Daniels issue was a focus.

It's still Cohen's word against Blanche's here, but Hoffinger is trying to dissipate the cloud that Blanche cast on this pivotal phone call.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

Todd Blanche finishes his cross examination by once again trying to paint Michael Cohen as a liar.

“This trial affects your personal life, doesn’t it?” he asks.

Cohen confirms that it does.

“It’s true that you will lie out of loyalty?” Blanche asks

“Yes sir,” Cohen says once again.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Todd Blanche asks Michael Cohen if he has a financial interest in the outcome of this case.

Cohen says he does.

And if Trump was convicted, it would benefit you personally? Blanche follows up.

“The question to you today is whether a conviction benefits you financially," Blanche asks.

“The answer is no," Cohen says. "It’s better if he’s not (convicted), because it gives me more to talk about in the future.”

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We've had a series of sustained objections and conversations at the bench in the past 10 minutes.

Todd Blanche just tried to accuse Cohen of not paying taxes on the $35,000 reimbursement cheques he received from Donald Trump for the Stormy Daniels payment, and other fees.

But prosecutors object, and it was sustained. Blanche asks to approach the bench.

Cohen admits to stealing: Defence delivers another blow to his credibilitypublished at 16:50 British Summer Time 20 May

16:50 BST 20 May

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York

Today, the defence struck another blow to Michael Cohen’s credibility.

They have tried to establish in the jurors' minds that the prosecutors' star witness is a liar and that he was an unethical lawyer who secretly recorded his client Donald Trump and others.

Now they have gotten him to admit he is also a thief.

Todd Blanche, Trump's defence lawyer, asked Cohen earlier whether he billed the Trump Organization $50,000 to cover a $20,000 bill - and kept the difference.

Cohen replied: "Yes, sir".

It could prove to be a massive blow for Cohen's credibility, which was always on shaky ground.

Prosecutors attempted to prepare jurors for this information. Cohen explained during earlier questioning that Trump didn’t originally want to pay the company Red Finch for IT services. They reportedly helped to rig some online polls to favour Trump.

At the time, prosecutors asked Cohen: “why did you then ask for $50,000 back?”

“Because that’s what was owed and I didn’t feel Mr. Trump deserved the benefit of the difference,” he replied.

Prosecutors didn’t outline just how much "the difference" was. They left the door open for the defence to go further into the detail on this and to call out Cohen for stealing.

Image source, Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

There are no cameras allowed in the courtroom after proceedings start, so we rely on sketch artists for visuals.

Jane Rosenberg has just shared her latest sketch, showing Michael Cohen on the stand as Todd Blanche questions him.

Justice Merchan and Donald Trump watch on.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Todd Blanche also asks how much money Michael Cohen makes from his podcasts, which are called Mea Culpa and Political Beatdown.

Cohen estimates that he has made about $1m (£787,000) since he started them.

We've heard excepts from Mea Culpa played aloud in court, particularly moments when Cohen aggressively criticised Trump.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Todd Blanche tells the court Michael Cohen is also seeking to sell a TV show. It's based on his life, and it's called "The Fixer".

Cohen tells the court that someone he works with on his Mea Culpa podcast is working on the show, and wants to send a crew to New York to film a teaser with him.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Michael Cohen's finances are now at the centre of the court's attention.

He says he made about $4.5m (£3.5m) from the beginning of 2017 to the summer of 2018.

Blanche asks if this is the most money he's ever made in an 18 month period

Cohen say it is not, and he claims to have made $5m over 18 months previously.

Blanche is now asking about how much Cohen's made from podcasts and his books.

He is likely trying to show how Cohen has profited off of the Stormy Daniels scandal.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

We're going over communications between Michael Cohen and lawyer Bob Costello, who spoke with Cohen when the hush-money story broke in 2018 and helped him through some legal troubles at the time.

Costello, who Cohen never officially retained as his lawyer, has come up during both direct and cross examination - and he has publicly criticised both this trial and Trump's ex-lawyer.

Last Wednesday, he testified before a congressional panel and called Cohen a liar.

“Virtually every statement he made about me was another lie," Costello said.

Republican members of the House of Representatives have used some of their congressional power to aid Trump during his legal saga.

Costello had appeared at the behest of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, a new panel Republicans created to investigate Trump's claims of political persecution.

Costello told the committee that Cohen was acting "absolutely manic" in 2018, according to Politico.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Last week, defence lawyer Todd Blanche said he had about an hour of cross examination left.

We're well beyond that now.

It is possible he could risk losing the jury here, though he's laid a lot of groundwork to discredit Cohen.

The jurors appear a bit bored at the moment. Some are playing with their hair or looking away during Blanche's questioning.

He's going over a host of small details at the moment, and it can be a bit difficult to follow.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Donald Trump continues to switch between leaning back with his eyes shut and whispering to his counsel.

His lawyer Todd Blanche is quizzing Michael Cohen.

The questions are focusing on how much Cohen actually spoke with his own lawyer, Bob Costello - who could be a witness for the defence.

Cohen at first says he spoke to him 10 times over the phone, before Blanche tells him it was actually 75 times.

That number "seems high but possible", Cohen says.

He adds that those conversations should be considered privileged - even if they didn't have a retainer agreement on the books.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Todd Blanche asks Michael Cohen about conversations he had with reporters in 2018 - that he allegedly recorded - in which he denied Trump had knowledge of the Stormy Daniels payout.

The story had just broken and there was tremendous interest from the media.

One of the reporters Blanche mentions is Suzanne Kianpour, who worked for the BBC at the time and interviewed Cohen about the hush-money story.

Cohen confirms they spoke.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Todd Blanche is now attempting to point out inconsistencies in Cohen’s recollections of the hush-money payment scheme.

He notes that Stormy Daniels' payment leaked in early 2018.

“And you told multiple people that President Trump knew nothing about the payment, right?” Blanche asks.

“That’s correct,” Cohen says.

Blanche moves on to ask about a time Cohen visited a college friend in jail in New York City. Blanche says Cohen told the friend that Trump knew nothing about the payment.

Cohen says he doesn’t remember this, but it sounds like something he would’ve said at the time.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Epa

Prosecutors have objected numerous times this morning, and Justice Merchan has sustained most of them.

He recently sustained objections to Todd Blanche's questioning that asked Michael Cohen to infer how Trump felt at different times.

Obviously, the ex-lawyer might not have first-hand knowledge of that.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We’re back on the hush-money reimbursement scheme.

Todd Blanche is asking how many cheques Michael Cohen got from Donald Trump personally in 2017.

“That would have been nine cheques, $35,000 a piece,” Cohen says.

“Now, you continued to get paid all 12 months, correct?” Blanche asks.

"Yes, sir," Cohen says.

Blanche begins to ask Cohen about some contracting work he did for AT&T (a US phone provider) that year.

The defence lawyer may be trying to compare how Cohen was paid for that work - Cohen says he received $4m (£3.15m) for all of his consulting work in 2017 (he had six clients, the court heard).

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Todd Blanche is asking Michael Cohen about all the legal work he did for Donald Trump and First Lady Melania after they went to the White House.

Cohen confirms he helped Melania Trump with an issue involving Madame Tussaud's, the celebrity wax museum.

Blanche also confirms that Cohen's job, prior to Trump becoming president, was helping Trump and his family with legal matters.

To my ear, this seems like Blanche is trying to show that around the time Cohen was reimbursed for "legal expenses", he was in fact doing legal work for Trump and his family.