Trump trial: Cohen faces Trump team grilling over past lies, recollections

The defense questioned Trump's former lawyer on Day 18 of the hush money trial.

Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.

Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.


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Proceedings are underway

Judge Juan Merchan took his seat on the bench and opened the day's proceedings.

Each of the lawyers made brief introductions before Merchan addressed Trump in his usual fashion.

"Good morning, Mr. Trump," Merchan said from the bench.


Trump, Bragg enter courtroom

Donald Trump has entered the courtroom. He looked around the room as he made his way to the front.

The former president is joined by his attorneys, as well as numerous associates and Secret Service.

Eric Trump and attorney Alina Habba are seated together in the first row, immediately behind Trump. Behind them in the second row, which is completely full, are Trump's legal adviser Boris Epshteyn, Natalie Harp, and J.D. Vance.

Campaign team members Jason Miller and Karoline Levitt are seated in the very back of the courtroom.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has also entered the courtroom.


Prosecutors enter courtroom

Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office have entered the courtroom.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, who is expected to lead Michael Cohen's direct examination, placed a hefty three-inch binder at the lectern before returning to the counsel table.


Dozens of reporters crammed into courtroom

The courtroom in the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse is packed with reporters and security ahead of Michael Cohen's testimony.

Approximately 70 reporters are crammed into the gallery of the courtroom, seated on wooden benches that seat six per row. Five members of the public are seated in the back of the gallery behind the prosecution counsel table and jury box, and five court officers are scattered throughout the courtroom.

On the right side of the courtroom, earlier witnesses Jaden Jarmel-Schneider and Georgia Longstreet are seated near computer monitors. Both work as paralegals for the Manhattan district attorney's office and testified as part of the prosecution's case.

Jarmel-Schneider introduced phone records and a summary exhibit about the falsified documents into evidence, while Longstreet introduced Trump's social media posts into evidence.


Cohen says he was 'beyond angry' after bonus was cut

Prosecutors introduced text messages between Michael Cohen and his daughter related to Cohen not being considered for Trump's chief of staff after Trump won the 2016 election.

"My daughter and I are very close -- we are very much connected and she was concerned that I was upset that I was not being considered for the role," Cohen said. "I explained to her that there are so many opportunities."

By December 2016, Cohen said, he was "beyond angry." His Trump Organization bonus had been cut by two-thirds.

"I was truly insulted, personally hurt. Didn't understand it," Cohen said of his feelings. "It made no sense, after all that I had gone through in terms of the campaign as well as things at the Trump Organization, and laying out $130,000 on his behalf to protect him."

"It was insulting that the gratitude shown back to me was to cut the bonus by two-thirds," Cohen said.

Cohen said he was "truly pissed off and angry," he recalled telling then-CFO Allen Weisselberg.

At that point, Cohen had not been paid back for the Daniels advance and expressed as much to Weisselberg.

"The best that you get for extending yourself as I did is to have your bonus cut by two-thirds?" Cohen recalled saying. He said Weisselberg responded by saying, "We'll make this right."

Trump, at the defense table, showed no reaction as Cohen recounted his emotional response to having his bonus cut.