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.
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What to know about the hush money case
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Prosecutors arrive in courtroom
Prosecutors and staff from the Manhattan district attorney's office have arrived in court.
Prosecutors Joshua Steinglass, Becky Mangold and Christopher Conroy are seated at counsel table.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is not present in court this morning.
Michael Cohen expected to testify Monday, sources say
Michael Cohen, the prosecution's star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial, is expected to take the stand Monday, according to multiple sources familiar with the case.
Trump's former attorney and "fixer," Cohen made the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels that sits at the center of the case, in order to buy her silence and help Trump's electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors accuse of Trump falsifying business records when he repaid Cohen the $130,000.
Key Trump White House aide set to resume testimony
Former Trump White House aide Madeleine Westerhout is set to resume her testimony this morning in former President Donald Trump's New York criminal trial.
For prosecutors, Westerhout's testimony yesterday offered a detailed picture of how Trump approached his personal finances while serving as president -- including how he signed personal checks for his then-attorney Michael Cohen and others.
Defense attorneys, meanwhile, appeared to use Westerhout to highlight Trump's character following hours of abrasive testimony from Stormy Daniels.
"He never once made me feel like I didn't deserve that job and I didn't belong there, especially in an office filled with older men," Westerhout told jurors about working by Trump's side for over two years. "He was a really good boss. I hope he respected me in my job, and I just found him very enjoyable to work for."
Westerhout at one point broke down in tears on the witness stand while recounting to the jury how she lost her job after she shared private details of Trump's family with reporters at an off-the-record dinner.
"That mistake, eventually -- ultimately, cost me my job, and I am very regretful of my youthful indiscretion," Westerhout said while crying.
'We are so innocent,' Trump says exiting courtroom
Judge Juan Merchan dismissed court for the day following the late hearing.
Trump, speaking to reporters on his way out of the courtroom, railed against the judge.
"Everybody saw what happened today -- I don't think we have to do any expert explaining," Trump said. "I'm not allowed to anyway because this judge is corrupt," he said, criticizing Merchan -- who is not protected by the limited gag order in the case.
"I got to get back on the campaign trail. I'm not supposed to be here. We are so innocent," Trump said.
-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh and Mike Pappano
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.