As the private sidebar continues, Judge Merchan is standing slightly back on the bench with his arms crossed, as Trump attorney Todd Blanche speaks.

At one point, Blanche and prosecutor Joshua Steinglass appeared to laugh.

Trump, seated at the defense table, is leaning back in his chair and his eyes appear to be closed.

"Good morning, Mr. Trump," Judge Juan Merchan said in his usual fashion after taking the bench.

The proceedings immediately began with a private sidebar between the parties and Merchan.

Donald Trump has entered the courtroom accompanied, like yesterday, by an entourage that includes several members of Congress.

Reps. Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz are among those seated in the front row of the gallery.

The group is so large that a few members are sitting at the back of the courtroom because the first two rows of the gallery do not have enough space.

Prosecutors for the Manhattan district attorney’s office have entered the courtroom.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is not currently in attendance.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche continued to work to paint a picture of Michael Cohen as a proven liar who pleaded guilty to crimes associated with those lies and leveraged his cooperation as part of those plea deals to secure a shorter prison sentence.

"When you plead guilty to a crime, one of the things you get -- one of the benefits you get -- is a little time off your sentence ... correct?" Blanche asked.

Blanche then said that in the case of Cohen's guilty plea to charges that included those related to the Stormy Daniels payment, "You got that credit even though you lied."

Cohen, for his part, has claimed some responsibility for the hush money charges Donald Trump now faces -- but he has suggested that he himself should not have been charged, and that the system that charged him was "corrupt."

"Do you have any doubt in your mind that the outcome of this trial affects you personally?" Blanche asked Cohen.

"Yes," Cohen replied.