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Trump trial updates: Appeals court denies defense's bid for judge's recusal

The defense rested its case Tuesday without testimony from Donald Trump.

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.


What to know about the hush money case

READ MORE: Here's what you need to know about the historic case.


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Prosecutors seek to introduce photo from time of phone call

Judge Merchan dismissed the jury for the lunch break, after which prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked permission to show the jury a photo of Donald Trump and his bodyguard Keith Schiller together on Oct. 24, 2016, at 7:57 p.m.

Prosecutors hope to introduce the evidence to counter the defense suggestion that Cohen lied about the purpose of an Oct. 24, 2016, phone call to Schiller.

"It shows that they were together," Steinglass said of the photo.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche pushed back on the request, arguing the photo is inadmissible and that testimony about the time and date of it would be hearsay. Blanche added that the fact that Trump and Schiller were together on Oct. 24 is not in dispute; rather, defense lawyers have hammered at the substance of Cohen's call with Schiller.

"I have significant evidence that he lied under oath," Blanche said about Cohen's testimony about the phone call.

Judge Merchan said he would discuss the issue further after lunch.


Prosecutors press Cohen on legality of Daniels' NDA

On redirect examination, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked Michael Cohen about his testimony on cross-examination that nondisclosure agreements are perfectly legal and that the contract with Stormy Daniels was also legal.

Hoffinger sought to emphasize how out of the ordinary this particular NDA was.

"Under the circumstances of this NDA with Stormy Daniels -- was that perfectly legal under those circumstances?" Hoffinger asked, referring to efforts to affect the 2016 election.

"No ma'am," Cohen said.


Cohen testifies about fake AI case citations

On redirect examination, Michael Cohen offered some context about how he claims he inadvertently provided some fake case law to the court during a recent bid to end his supervised release.

"I went onto Google Bard which is an AI search engine," Cohen said. "It gave me a plethora of cases that appeared to me to be legitimate. They certainly looked legitimate and there were facts behind it and supported what we were going to put in the upcoming motion."

"I was just trying to be helpful," Cohen added.

But when Cohen showed the cases to his current lawyer, she noticed they were "not legitimate."

At her recommendation, Cohen said he notified the court about the fake cases.


Cohen says he has nothing at stake as a witness

Michael Cohen testified under redirect examination that he had nothing at stake in the outcome of Trump's criminal trial.

"Are you actually on trial here?" Hoffinger asked.

"No ma'am," Cohen said.

"Are you a witness here?" Hoffinger asked.

"I am," Cohen said.

"Are you charged with any crimes here?" Hoffinger asked.

"No ma'am," Cohen said.

While Cohen was subpoenaed to testify at this trial, he described his outlook about the trial as markedly different from his participation and plea in a 2018 federal investigation.

"My life was on the line. My liberty. I was the defendant in the case," Cohen said.


'He was putting on quite a show,' Costello says of Cohen

Under cross-examination from prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, Michael Cohen's former attorney Robert Costello testified that he first met with Cohen at the urging of Jeffrey Citron, who scheduled the April 2018 meeting at the Regency Hotel.

Costello -- who has represented Leona Helmsley and George Steinbrenner in the past -- acknowledged that representing Cohen would have generated positive publicity for his law firm. But Costello said he did not have positive feelings about landing Cohen as a client.

"I didn't want him as a client with the firm," Costello said, pushing back on prosecutors' assertions that landing Cohen would have been a big win.

Jurors briefly saw an email where Costello's son congratulated him for landing Cohen as a client.

"Wow. That's big news. Congrats Dad. I hope this leads to a lot of good things coming your way," Costello's son wrote.

Asked about the FBI's raid on Cohen's office and hotel room, Costello said, "I wouldn't use the term raid -- they executed a search warrant."

"He was suicidal that day and acting very manic," Costello said about Cohen's behavior after the FBI searched on his hotel and office.

""You thought he was being a drama queen, didn't you?" Hoffinger asked.

"He was putting on quite a show and he explained to us that two nights before he was on the roof of the Regency Hotel and he was going to jump off and kill himself because he couldn't handle the pressure," Costello said.

Testimony subsequently concluded for the day, with Costello scheduled to return to the stand tomorrow.