What to know about the trial today
- Star witness Michael Cohen resumed his testimony today about making a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels to suppress her story about an alleged affair with Donald Trump.
- Trump lawyer Todd Blanche began cross-examination after lunch. He is expected to paint Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, as a perjurer and convicted felon; Cohen pleaded guilty to several crimes in 2018, including tax fraud and lying to Congress about plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and several potential vice presidential contenders for Trump appeared in court today.
- Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement to Cohen for the payment he made to Daniels. Trump has denied the charges.
'Stupid porn trials': Republican senator says she won't be joining Trump in court
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said today she will not go to Manhattan for Trump's hush money trial, like several other Republican lawmakers have done over the past week.
“Don’t we have something to do around here other than watch stupid porn trials?” said Murkowski, a notable Trump critic.
Judge admonished Trump lawyer after first cross-examination question
Moments after Todd Blanche's first question to Cohen, the prosecution objected and Judge Juan Merchan called the lawyers to his bench.
“Mr. Cohen, my name is Todd Blanche,” Blanche had said to Cohen and then added, “You went on TikTok and called me a ‘crying little s---.’”
Merchan started the meeting, known as a sidebar that is recorded by the court reporter and included in the transcript but not audible to the rest of the courtroom, by asking Blanche, “Why are you making this about yourself?”
Blanche tried to argue he was attempting to show Cohen was biased.
“It doesn’t matter if he has bias towards you; it doesn’t matter," Merchan said. "The issue is whether he has bias towards the defendant."
He added, "Just don’t make it about yourself."
Trump: 'I think it was a very, very good day'
Speaking to cameras outside the courtroom after the trial wrapped for the day, Trump expressed deep frustration again about the judge's gag order, saying, "I think it's totally unconstitutional."
A state appeals court earlier in the day declined to take up his continued effort to fight the gag order, saying it had been properly administered. Trump has been found in violation 10 times.
"This should never happen to another candidate or another person," Trump said. "Today I think we had a very good day in court. ... I think it was a very, very good day."
Trump said the trial is going well and it's not affecting the presidential election because he said he's still leading in the polls.
"Can you believe I've been here for five weeks instead of campaigning?" Trump said. "They want to keep me in here as long as possible."
He reiterated that this is "all election interference by Biden" and he also attacked special counsel Jack Smith, calling him "deranged."
Confusion abounds
"I’m sorry, I am confused by your questions,” Cohen just said to Blanche, following questions about having to turn over his phones to the government in January 2023.
Cohen is not the only one.
Because Blanche keeps jumping from topic to topic, the time periods at issue keep changing too, and Cohen, like many reporters and members of the public, is having trouble identifying which years Blanche is referring to and when.
Blanche brings up former Manhattan assistant DA
Blanche asked Cohen to confirm whether he recalled someone in the Manhattan district attorney's office named Mark Pomerantz. Cohen said yes. But before Blanche could proceed with a line of questioning about Pomerantz, Hoffinger objected and approached Merchan for a bench conference. Blanche then seemed to drop the subject of Pomerantz.
Pomerantz is a former Manhattan assistant DA who resigned in 2022. He once led the DA office's investigation of Trump's finances.
Sprawling cross-examination aims to paint Cohen as untrustworthy
Today's highly anticipated cross-examination has been challenging to follow, even for close observers of the case.
Questioning of Cohen has jumped around between lies, casting Cohen as jilted, as motivated to provide dirt to Trump to get out of prison early, and his podcast attacks. It's all an effort to say he can't be trusted, but it's a sprawling effort.
Trump defense attorney makes Cohen listen to his own podcast
Trump attorney Todd Blanche directed Cohen to put on headphones and listen to portions of his “Mea Culpa” podcast.
“I believe you have headphones right to your right ... and I would like to play a portion of the 'Mea Culpa' podcast from Oct. 23,” Blanche said.
Cohen had difficulty adjusting the headphones, but eventually got them on, adjusted the volume and began listening. The jury and others in the courtroom were not able to hear the clip.
“Did you hear that?” Blanche asked. “I heard that, yes,” Cohen replied.
The unusual exchange prompted a bench meeting called by the prosecution.
Cohen indicates he likely said he was screwed over by the system
Blanche asked Cohen if he said he was screwed over by the system. Cohen said he doesn't know if that was the language he used, but added that it sounds correct.
The question seemed to be invoking the kind of arguments Trump has made — that he's being targeted by the system.
Court is back in session after short break
The jurors are filing in.
Cross-examination meanders into dead ends
At times, the questions from Trump's lawyer Blanche have appeared to wind up, but with little delivery.
For example, Blanche just asked Cohen if Anthony Scaramucci visited him in prison. Scaramucci was a very short-lived White House aide. This was the first time he was mentioned during the trial.
But Blanche didn't take it anywhere.
If the defense was preparing to call a roster of witnesses, one might speculate that he was setting up a question for later in the trial. But Blanche has already said it's possible the defense doesn't call any witnesses at all — and Cohen is the last prosecution witness. So why leave that one reference hanging there? We may never know.
