Trump lawyer attacks Cohen's credibility in hush-money trial

Let's recap how Michael Cohen's second day on the witness stand played out.

It's helpful to break the day into three segments, the paper trail, Cohen's character and the political sideshow.

The paper trail

Prosecutors started by asking Cohen how he was reimbursed for the hush-money payment he forked out to Stormy Daniels. Cohen testified he sent fake invoices for "services rendered", but they were actually to pay him back for the hush-money.

Cohen also alleged that Donald Trump was aware of the scheme when he signed one of those cheques, which he claimed falsely described the cash as a payment for legal services.

Cohen's character

Then the prosecution struck into Cohen's prior history of lies and time in jail. They attempted to counter potential probes from the defence by asking Cohen why he lied for Trump. "Out of loyalty and to protect him," he testified.

When it was time for the defence to cross-examine, that's immediately what they zoned in on. Cohen was grilled on his social media posts that attacked Trump, merchandise he sells that shows a cartoon of Trump in prison, and how he made $3.4m from books about the former president.

The political sideshow

While all this was going on, the trial has increasigly become a campaign stop for Republicans to show support for Trump. Today we had a cast of major players show up - including House Speaker Mike Johnson. You can read more about that here.

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I just spoke to a lawyer representing Michael Cohen - Jeffrey K Levine - who says his client "came across credibly" and that his testimony "was consistent with other evidence that will be considered by the jury".

So far, the defence team has focused on undermining Cohen's trustworthiness as a witness, but they have not touched on the bombshell allegations the ex-lawyer made when prosecutors questioned him.

Cohen alleged that Trump knew and approved the plan to reimburse him for the hush money he paid adult-film star Stormy Daniels.

Levine says the Trump legal's team plan might be to start "building a foundation of a lack of credibility" and that they "will move forward with the particulars of the allegations against their client" once they feel they have accomplished this.

That said, he adds, they might also try something totally unconventional.

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So far, one expert seems impressed by Cohen's calm and collected testimony. He's held up well while facing questions from prosecutors and the defence team.

"He kept his cool and was a strong witness," Columbia Law School professor John Coffee tells me.

Trump's lawyers appear to have focused their cross-examination on painting Cohen as a liar, Coffee says, though they don't seem to have landed any substantial punches just yet.

The defence team has made an effort to note Cohen's history with Trump - including his long support of the former president, his comments on social media, previous testimony and recent earnings.

Coffee notes that they may have stressed this to show the jury that he lacks credibility and is not "a little guy they should feel sympathy for".

But prosecutors have been smart and used other witnesses to back up his claims, he says.

One challenge for them, Coffee says, is that Cohen still remains "alone and out on a limb" in his claim that Trump knew he was reimbursing the hush-money payment via the ex-lawyer's monthly retainer.

Throughout the day, we've received sketches from the court artists that give a glimpse into today's proceedings.

The first image shows Todd Blanche cross-examining Michael Cohen as Donald Trump watches. On a screen is a cartoon of Trump behind bars, in reference to a T-shirt Cohen sells as part of his podcast's merchandise.

Then underneath that image we have prosecutor Susan Hoffinger from when she questioned Cohen earlier today.

The third image is one of Trump with his eyes closed while Cohen appears somber at the stand.

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There were plenty of contentious moments that arose from Blanche's dredging of Cohen's public comments about Trump.

But by the close of Tuesday’s session, lead defence lawyer Todd Blanche had not actually cross-examined Cohen on the damaging testimony he had just given prosecutors.

Cohen testified that he kept Trump informed at every stage of the hush-money scheme, and he alleged that Trump had approved the puportedly fraudulent reimbursement plan that sparked the 34 felony charges against him.

This is the most important information that Cohen provided during prosecutors' questioning. Mr Trump's lawyers have barely touched it.

Blanche has focused on Cohen's credibility and past, an important line of questioning that has been somewhat difficult to follow today. Both teams have generally worked to form a narrative when questioning witnesses to make it easy for the jurors to follow, but Blanche has jumped around quite a bit in Cohen's past.

We will see where they pick up the thread on Thursday.

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Donald Trump has walked out of the courtroom and is speaking to media in the hallway.

His Republican supporters are standing several metres behind him, including Doug Burgum, Byron Donalds and his son Eric Trump.

Trump starts by criticising the gag order, which prevents him from speaking about witnesses and members of the jury in this trial.

"I would love to not be under the gag-order," he says. He brings it up several more times.

"Today we had... a very good day," Trump then says.

And then he mentions the length of the trial, saying: "can you believe I've been in here five weeks instead of campaigning".

Again, he holds a stack of paper and reads quotes from various political commentators who agree with his views on the trial.

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The jury is dismissed, but Trump's lawyer and the prosecutors hang back for a quick sidebar with Justice Merchan to discuss scheduling.

Todd Blanche says if he is able to, he would wrap up his cross-examination of Cohen by the end of Thursday.

Blanche also discussed a potential expert witness that the defence may call as they present their case later on.

After these matters are dispatched, court ends.

Justice Merchan just asked Todd Blanche if this is a good time to pause his questioning.

After Blanche agrees, Merchan declares that court will resume again at 09:30 on Thursday.

But stick with us, we have more analysis to come.

And Donald Trump will likely speak to media outside the courtroom. You'll be able to stream that by pressing the play button at the top of this page.

Michael Cohen tells the court he made a total of about $3.4m (£2.7m) from the publication of his two books, "Disloyal" and "Revenge".

In the first two months or so of sales, his first book, Disloyal, made about $2 million, Cohen says.

It made another $1m after the release of his second book, he says.

Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche asks him to confirm how much he made from Revenge - Cohen estimates about $400,000.

Todd Blanche has taken another swing at undermining Michael Cohen's character - a running theme of the cross-examination thus far.

“Is it fair to say you are motivated by fame?" he asks Cohen.

Cohen responds that he doesn't think that's fair.

“Is it fair that you're motivated by publicity?" Blanche then asks.

"I don’t think that's fair to say, I’m motivated by many things," Cohen says.

Michael Cohen served more than a year in prison for his federal guilty pleas, but was able to eventually transition to supervised release at home.

Under questioning from Todd Blanche, Cohen is now testifying about this period.

Earlier, we had a brief sidebar between the lawyers and the judge.

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We're winding down in court for the day, and it appears the trial could end soon as well. Here's a quick break down of how quickly things could wrap up..

Let's start with today. Court is scheduled to end for the day at 16:30 local time (21:30BST).

Wednesday is an off day, so we will be back on Thursday for more of the defence's cross-examination of Michael Cohen. That could take up much of Thursday, though Justice Merchan says he intends to end the day 30 minutes early.

Then the prosecution will have the opportunity to ask Cohen additional questions if they wish.

Testimony could end there. The prosecution has said it has no more witnesses to call after Cohen, and the defence has indicated it may not call witnesses at all (but that could change).

Friday there's no court, so we could potentially hear closing statements from both sides as early as Monday of next week.

Then the jury will start its deliberations.

Trump has returned to court after a short afternoon break.

His Republican supporters returned with him, taking up a row of seats behind him.

Todd Blanche will resume his cross-examination of Michael Cohen, which has grown suprisingly staid after a feisty start.

The jury is now re-entering the courtroom.

One by one, they walk by the defence table.

While I can't see if Trump is watching each of the jurors as they walk in, none of them appear to look at him as they sweep past to the jury box on the other side of the room.

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Donald Trump's top trial lawyer - Todd Blanche - was a former federal prosecutor and a registered Democrat.

But he has tossed his past aside, leaving a lucrative position as a partner at a Wall Street law firm, becoming a Republican and taking on the biggest client of his career - former president Trump.

Once a colleague of Alvin Bragg, the lawyer prosecuting Trump, Blanche is now sitting on the other side of the courtroom from him.

He has only served as a defence attorney in one other criminal case that went to trial.

You can learn more about Blanche and other key characters in the trial here.

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Donald Trump strolls out of court, and appears to nod to Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who is seated with the press.

Before the break, Todd Blanche was asking Michael Cohen about his time in prison. Blanche has Cohen confirm that the first time he met with the Manhattan District Attorneys office was when he was incarcerated at the prison.

While cross-examination has gone on for over an hour, we have yet to actually hear Blanche speak to the substance of the case.

He hasn't touched on the documents at the heart of the case, or Cohen's earlier testimony that Trump knew about the hush money payment and the alleged reimbursement scheme.

Court is taking a short recess, but things will start up again shortly.

In the meantime, don't go anywhere. The BBC will continue to deliver the latest news and analysis on Trump's historic trial.

Todd Blanche is angling for another line of attack: questioning Cohen's truthfulness.

He brings up Cohen's guilty plea for lying to Congress.

It's a reminder to the jury that Cohen has not always told the truth under oath.

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Todd Blanche continues to ask Michael Cohen about previous times he'd said he respected or cared about Trump.

Listening from the audience, the intention seems to be to highlight to the jury just how serious a public reversal Cohen has charted with his stance on Trump.

Trump’s attorneys have started their cross examination exactly as experts predicted: by attacking Cohen’s credibility.

The defence “has a lot to work with”, former Brooklyn prosecutor Julie Rendelman told me before the Trump team started. “I'm sure they're chomping at the bit to cross examine, because there are just so many areas they can go after him.”

But good prosecutors prepare the jury for that, Rendelman said. From the start, they work to establish that falsehoods in a witness's past does not mean they are no longer believable.

That’s what the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office tried to do during two days of questioning. They had Cohen acknowledge his former convictions and lies and explain his motivations.

Corroboration is also key, Rendelman told me.

We saw prosecutors turning to several different sources to confirm Cohen's version of events behind the hush-money payments: David Pecker, Stormy Daniels, Hope Hicks and Keith Davidson.