Trump trial full coverage: Michael Cohen faces cross-examination on 2nd day of testimony

Judge Juan Merchan sent the jury home for the day. The trial will be dark on Wednesday and will resume on Thursday, May 16, according to the Washington Post.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche read a quote from Cohen's book Disloyal, in which he wrote that what he desires in life is “power, the good life, public acclaim, big deals, fast cars, private planes, the excess and the glamour and zest for life.” Per the New York Times, Cohen confirmed that those were his words.

“Is it fair to say you are motivated by fame?” Blanche asked Cohen, according to CNN.

“No, sir. I don’t think that’s fair to say,” Cohen replied. When asked if he was motivated by publicity, Cohen repeated that that was not fair to say, but said instead that he is “motivated by many things.”

Judge Juan Merchan has returned to the bench, and the defense's cross-examination of Cohen continues into the final stretch of day 17.

While Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche conducted his cross-examination of Cohen, Trump appeared to be snoozing for several minutes and had to be roused awake by lawyer Susan Necheles, per reporters in the room.

Politico described Trump as “motionless, his head hanging down.”

CNN said his eyes were closed, with his chin on his chest.

Necheles reportedly stared at Trump for a few seconds and tried getting his attention before moving into a seat next to Trump. She then whispered in his ear and went back to her seat, CNN reported.

Since the trial is not being televised and news photographers are only permitted 45 seconds to take still photos prior to the start of each day, the only images from inside the courtroom during Michael Cohen's testimony are portraits by sketch artists.

These, by noted sketch artist Jane Rosenberg, show Cohen on the witness stand being questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger while Judge Juan Merchan, Trump and his defense attorney Emil Bove look on.

Cohen appears bespectacled in one, looking at a screen that is displaying one of the checks that he said were from Trump to reimburse him for the hush money payment he made to Stormy Daniels.

In another, Cohen appears to be looking down on the witness stand while Trump sits with his eyes closed.

The trial takes a short afternoon recess.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche pressed Cohen to explain the difference between a lie and an inaccuracy in a line of questioning about statements to special counsel Robert Mueller in his probe into Trump's ties to Russia.

“Is not-accurate information a lie?” Blanche asked, according to CNN.

“Sure,” Cohen said.

“Is it a lie?” Blanche asked.

“It was inaccurate, yes,” Cohen said.

“Was it a lie?” Blanche asked.

“I don’t know if I would characterize it as a lie. It was inaccurate,” Cohen said, continuing with, “It wasn’t truthful. You want to call it a lie, I’ll call it a lie.”

A key exchange during Cohen's cross-examination occurred when Trump's defense lawyer Todd Blanche pressed Cohen about whether he was "obsessed" with his former boss.

"I wouldn’t say obsessed," Cohen replied. "I admired him tremendously."

But Cohen also acknowledged that he used the word "obsessed" in his book, "Disloyal."

?? Big picture: It's clear that the defense wants to portray Cohen as someone whose obsession with Trump turned vengeful when it became clear the former president was not interested in giving him a meaningful White House job.

Cohen was pressed by defense attorney Todd Blanche about the Trump-related merchandise he sells in the online store for his podcast, Mea Culpa.

The jury was shown a photo of a $22 coffee mug that is sold on the site, which reads: "Send him to the big house not the White House." They were also shown a $32 T-shirt depicting Trump behind bars, which Cohen said he wore last week on his TikTok show.

Blanche asked Cohen if he was encouraging people to buy it.

“Yes, it's part of the merch store,” Cohen replied.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche reportedly asked Cohen whether he has "regularly commented on your podcasts that you want President Trump convicted in this case?”

“Yes probably,” Cohen responded, adding that he wanted to "see accountability."

Pressed for a "yes or no" answer on whether he wants to see Trump convicted in the hush money case, Cohen reportedly said, "Sure."

Cohen testified that he records two podcasts twice a week, totaling four podcasts a week, and confirmed Trump comes up in all of his episodes.

"I would say he's mentioned in every one, yes," Cohen said.

As he was pressed by the defense about the disparaging comments he's made about Trump on social media, Cohen confirmed that prosecutors have repeatedly asked him to stop publicly commenting about the case.

?? Big picture: During procedural arguments last week, Trump's lawyers asked Judge Juan Merchan to impose a gag order on Cohen, complaining that the former president, who is under his own gag order, is unable to respond to Cohen's comments. Prosecutors said that they have asked their witnesses to refrain from publicly discussing the case but were limited in what they could control.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche started his cross-examination of Cohen by referencing an alleged personal social media swipe.

“You went on TikTok and called me a crying little s***?” Blanche asked Cohen, according to CNN.

“Sounds like something I would say,” Cohen reportedly responded before the prosecution objected to the question, per reporters in the room. Judge Juan Merchan sustained the objection.

Judge Juan Merchan is on the bench and Trump's defense team is set to begin its cross-examination of Michael Cohen.

Court transcripts reveal that during a morning sidebar, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told Judge Juan Merchan that the prosecution scrapped plans to call another witness, a publisher. That means Michael Cohen will be the final witness called by the prosecution in Trump's hush money trial.

The New York State Unified Court System's media website has made certified transcripts free to access following each day's proceedings.

The court is taking its daily lunch break. When the trial resumes at 2 p.m. ET, the defense will begin its cross-examination of Michael Cohen.

Under direct questioning, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger reportedly asked Cohen, "At any time did you alter or modify the audio recording of your conversation with Mr. Trump?"

"No ma’am," Cohen replied.

Here's the key part of that recording.

?? Big picture: The jury has heard the cellphone recording that Cohen made of his conversation with Trump about the hush money deal they made with Karen McDougal. When it was first introduced, defense attorney Emil Bove suggested that it was possible Cohen's cellphones could have been tampered with.

Cohen told prosecutor Susan Hoffinger that he worked with American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer, to pay off Karen McDougal "in order to ensure that the possibility of Mr. Trump succeeding in the election — that this would not be a hindrance."

The payments to McDougal to suppress her claims that she had an affair with Trump were also part of Cohen's 2018 guilty plea.

Cohen recalled his previous testimony to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and the House Oversight Committee about payments made to Stormy Daniels, in which he also apologized to Congress and the country for his earlier lies under oath.

"I apologized to Congress. I apologized to the country. I apologized to my family," Cohen said, according to CNN. He said he apologized to the American public "for lying to them, for acting in a way that suppressed information that the citizenry had a right to know in order to make a determination on the individual who was seeking the highest office in the land."