Trump trial: Judge rebukes Michael Cohen ahead of expected testimony Monday

Former President Trump was in court on Day 15 of his criminal trial in New York.

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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Stormy Daniels to return to the witness stand

Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress whose allegations of a 2006 sexual encounter with Donald Trump prompted the hush money payment that lies at the center of the Manhattan DA's criminal case against Trump, is scheduled to return to the witness stand this morning.

On Daniels' first day on the stand on Tuesday, she testified that first met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, California, and that he invited her to his hotel suite. Daniels told the jury that when she came out of the bathroom, she found Trump on the bed dressed in only his underwear and a T-shirt.

"The next thing I know, I was on the bed," said Daniels, who then described how they had sex. Trump has denied that the two ever had a sexual encounter.

Daniels told jurors that she became afraid to go public with her story of the encounter after she was threatened by an unknown man in a Las Vegas parking lot in June 2011. She said that the 2016 offer from then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen to buy her silence for $130,000 on the eve of the 2016 election allowed her to keep the allegations private while profiting from the deal.

"They were interested in paying for the story, which was the best thing that could happen because then my husband wouldn't find out, but there was still documentation of a money exchange and a paperwork exchange, so that I would be safe and the story wouldn't come out," Daniels said.


Jurors see chart of 34 records Trump allegedly falsified

Jurors saw a summary exhibit prepared by DA office paralegal Jaden Jarmel-Schneider that breaks down the 34 records that prosecutors allege Trump falsified in the course of repaying Michael Cohen for Stormy Daniels' hush money payment.

The exhibit shows each of the vouchers, checks, and invoices -- broken down by each criminal count -- that prosecutors say Trump falsified to disguise his reimbursement to Cohen.

The chart appears to be the jury's clearest roadmap so far to each of the documents at the center of the case.

Defense attorney Emil Bove -- once a paralegal himself -- began his cross-examination by asking Jarmel-Schneider how much time he spent on the project, suggesting it was "tedious."

"Honestly, I kind of enjoyed it," Jarmel-Schneider said, prompting jurors and several members of the gallery to break out into laughter.

"I hear you -- respect," Bove said in a rare moment of levity.