Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer to former U.S. President Donald Trump, leaves his apartment building on his way to Manhattan Criminal Court on May 16, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - Donald Trump's lawyers accused Michael Cohen of lying to jurors, portraying the former Trump-fixer as a serial fabricator who wants to see the former president behind bars.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche pressed Cohen for hours with questions that focused as much on his misdeeds as on the case's specific allegations and tried to sow doubt in jurors’ minds about Cohen’s crucial testimony implicating the former president, the Associated Press reported.
Blanche's voice rose as he interrogated Cohen with phone records and text messages over Cohen's claim that he spoke by phone to Trump about the hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels that is at the heart of the case, days before wiring her lawyer $130,000.
The trial reached its 18th day on Thursday.
Here's a full recap of Thursday's testimony:
4:45 p.m. ET: The trial has adjourned for the day
Michael Cohen will return on Monday.
4:35 p.m. ET: Todd Blanche expects to finish Cohen’s cross-examination on Monday morning
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said she expects about an hour of redirect questioning once Trump Lawyer Todd Blanche is finished.
4:30 p.m. ET: Judge Merchan is sorting out the trial’s final stretch
Before adjourning, Judge Juan M. Merchan noted the challenge of managing the trial schedule with myriad upcoming off days, the Associated Press noted.
There’s no court Friday so Trump can attend his son’s high school graduation and an upcoming four-day weekend for Memorial Day. Court is also not in session on Wednesdays.
Depending on how long the defense case goes, it’s possible the trial could shift to closing arguments as early as Tuesday.
Merchan said he’d like to have both sides give their summations on the same day and could start court early or end late to accommodate that. Or, he said, they may have to spill into another day.
Then, before deliberations begin, Merchan will have to instruct and charge the jury. But the timing of that could be tricky, too, he said.
"It’s not ideal for there to be a big lapse in time between summations and a jury charge," Merchan said.
4:15 p.m. ET: Rep. Matt Gaetz misses key vote while sitting in court with Trump
By midafternoon, many of Trump’s congressional allies had not returned from the lunch break. Rep. Matt Gaetz however — who sat in the first row of the gallery behind Trump — remained for the trial and missed a key committee vote Thursday that moved to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for not turning over audio related to President Joe Biden’s classified documents case.
4:10 p.m. ET: Michael Cohen previously characterized Stormy Daniels payment as extortion
Michael Cohen acknowledged telling a former prosecutor that he felt Daniels and her then-lawyer Keith Davidson were extorting Trump in seeking a $130,000 payment to keep quiet about her claim of a sexual encounter with Trump, the Associated Press reported.
Cohen raised the specter of extortion during a conversation with Mark Pomerantz, who had led the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation of Trump before leaving the office in 2022.
"Yes, I recall making a statement like that … that they were extorting Mr. Trump," Cohen testified.
"In your mind, there were two choices: pay or don’t pay and the story comes out," Blanche said.
"Yes, sir," Cohen replied.
In 2018, Trump decried Daniels’ claims as "false and extortionist accusations."
In her testimony last week, Daniels denied trying to extort Trump, calling the allegation "false."
4 p.m. ET: Discussing nondisclosure agreements
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Michael Cohen about the use of nondisclosure agreements and the one struck with Daniels specifically. Blanche asked if the agreement with the porn actor was a "completely legal-binding contract," and noted that Trump himself did not sign his name to it, the Associated Press reported.
"In your mind, then and now, this is a perfectly legal contract, correct?" Blanche asked.
"Yes sir," Cohen said.
He also asked Cohen if nondisclosure agreements are a routine practice in law and Cohen affirmed that they are.
3:30 p.m. ET: Prosecutor asked the judge to stop ‘defense guests’ from entering midtestimony
Before Michael Cohen returned to the stand at the start of the day, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked the judge to stop Trump’s courtroom "guests" from coming in midtestimony.
On Tuesday, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds were among those who came to support Trump in the gallery.
In a sidebar held out of earshot of reporters, Hoffinger told Judge Merchan that on that day, "some of the defense guests filed in the middle of direct examination with their security detail," and asked that those who came Thursday not be allowed to do so during cross-examination, according to a transcript of the discussion.
"It’s — with their security detail for the jury and the witnesses to see," Hoffinger said.
Merchan agreed that it was inadvisable, but Blanche, Trump’s defense lawyer, said it was out of his control.
"I have less than zero control over what is happening on anything or anyone that’s behind me when I am crossing a witness," he said.
3:15 p.m. ET: Michael Cohen’s secret recordings
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche suggested Cohen breached legal ethics when he secretly recorded himself briefing Trump in September 2016 about an arrangement to buy the rights of Karen McDougal’s story from the National Enquirer.
"You understand it’s not ethical for a lawyer to record a conversation with their client," Blanche asked Cohen, who was Trump’s personal lawyer at the time.
Cohen conceded it wasn’t ethical, though he noted there were some exceptions — none of which applied in his case, he said. Cohen had testified that he made the recording so he could play it for the tabloid’s publisher at the time, David Pecker, to prove that Trump was going to make the deal happen.
"Just so I understand, you surreptitiously recorded your client so that you could play a privileged communication for a third party?" Blanche asked Cohen.
The witness agreed.
Cohen had a propensity to secretly record his conversations, though he said the September 2016 talk was the only one he recorded with Trump.
Blanche said many of Cohen’s recordings — about 40 — involved conversations he had with news reporters. Sometimes, the people Cohen was talking to would ask him if he was recording them, and he denied it, Blanche said.
Asked if he recalled that, Cohen said, "It’s not illegal in New York for one party."
"Mr. Cohen, I did not ask you if you were breaking the law," Blanche responded. "I just asked you if you were surreptitiously recording people."
3 p.m. ET: Todd Blanche questions the intent of the National Enquirer’s catch-and-kill schemes
Donald Trump watched Cohen as the topic turned to the suppression of a former Trump Tower doorman’s since-debunked claim that the then-candidate had fathered a child with an employee. Cohen worked with the National Enquirer to get the tabloid to pay $30,000 for exclusive rights to the story, to keep it from coming out — a practice known as "catch and kill."
Blanche emphasized that the 2015 payoff was made even though the story was — according to Cohen, Trump and then-Enquirer publisher David Pecker — false.
And the defense lawyer sought to suggest that squelching the story had nothing to do with Trump’s then-ongoing campaign. Rather, Blanche noted, Cohen told law enforcement that Trump was "concerned about the story because it involved people that still worked with him and worked for him."
"So it was important to him to keep it from getting out?" Blanche asked.
"Yes sir," Cohen testified.
The point is important to the defense because it’s trying to undermine prosecutors’ allegation that the hush money payments to the doorman and others were meant specifically to protect Trump’s electoral prospects.
2:15 p.m. ET: ‘They were all-consuming’
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche is seeking to sow doubt about whether Cohen has a "specific recollection" of certain phone calls that have come up repeatedly during the trial. To make his point, he asks Cohen to estimate how many phone calls he was receiving each day in 2016 and 2017.
"Hundreds," Cohen replies. Conservatively, Blanche notes that would mean Cohen was receiving upward of 50,000 calls each year. How, then, could he have confidently testified that he remembers the specific details of certain phone calls?
"These phone calls are things I’ve been talking about for the last six years," Cohen testified. "They were and are extremely important and they were all-consuming."
2 p.m. ET: Michael Cohen rehashes his and Trump’s communication style
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche has resumed his understated style of questioning as he asks Cohen to rehash his previous testimony in a "timeline fashion." He began with a moment in 2011, when Cohen created a website to assess his boss’ odds of winning the presidency, which Blanche described as "ShouldTrumpRun."
"Dot com," Cohen added.
Blanche then segued into Cohen’s role in spinning press stories. In one of the earliest examples, Blanche noted, Cohen helped plant a positive story in the National Enquirer about Trump’s potential presidential bid. In addition, that story included positive information about Cohen, the defense attorney noted.
Blanche has sought to suggest that the former fixer didn’t always consult Trump about how to fend off or respond to unflattering news stories that were looming.
Cohen, however, has insisted it was always his routine to advise Trump about potential stories. If something wasn’t to his boss’ liking, he said, it could "one, cause him to blow up at me, and two, it would probably mean the end of my job."
The questions appeared aimed at suggesting that Trump might not have been in on all the machinations surrounding Stormy Daniels’ claims, though Blanche has not specifically asked about that, yet.
1:30 p.m. ET: The day’s most heated moment involved Stormy Daniels, a disputed phone call and harassing messages from a supposed 14-year-old boy
In a significant and heated moment, Blanche sought to unravel Cohen’s claim that he spoke by phone with Trump "to discuss the Stormy Daniels matter and the resolution of it" just days before wiring her lawyer $130,000, according to the Associated Press.
Cohen testified earlier in the week that he called Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, just after 8 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2016, as a way of getting ahold of Trump because he knew he’d be with him.
But Blanche noted that at the time Cohen was dealing with a spate of harassing phone calls and had exchanged text messages with the supposed harasser just before contacting Schiller.
Blanche cited text message records showing Cohen messaged Schiller at 7:48 p.m. regarding the caller, who’d identified himself as a 14-year-old boy who’d promised not to do it again.
"Who can I speak to about harassing calls to my cell and office," Cohen wrote to Schiller.
Blanche then cited phone records showing Schiller calling Cohen and leaving a voicemail at 8:01 p.m., followed by a text message stating, "call me," at 8:02 p.m. Cohen then called Schiller’s number. The conversation lasted 1 minute and 36 seconds, phone records show.
Blanche said Cohen’s claim that he was talking to Trump about the Daniels deal "was a lie because you were actually talking to Mr. Schiller about getting harassing phone calls from a 14-year-old."
"Part of it was about the phone calls, but I knew that Keith was with Mr. Trump at the time, and it was more than potentially just this," Cohen responded.
Blanche, his voice growing louder, was incredulous. After hours of slow and halting questioning, he spoke at a rapid clip as his voice rose to a new octave, a note of disbelief in his voice.
"You had enough time in that one minute and 36 seconds to update Mr. Schiller about all the problems you were having with this harassing phone call and also update President Trump on the status of the Stormy Daniels situation?"
Cohen responded that was his belief, based on records he was able to review that he said have refreshed his memory.
"Yes, I believe I was telling the truth."
"We are not asking for your belief. This jury does not want to hear what you think happened," Blanche said, even louder, prompting an objection from prosecutor Susan Hoffinger.
12:30 p.m. ET: Fake AI-generated legal cases
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche has brought up another embarrassing episode from Cohen’s past — when he supplied his lawyer with nonexistent, AI-generated legal cases to back up an application last year to end his postprison court supervision early, the Associated Press reported.
As he has said previously, Cohen said he was doing research with an AI tool, and it served up a few cases that sounded useful but turned out to be inventions. He has said he didn’t realize such tools could make things up. His attorney ended up citing the bogus legal rulings in papers that went to a judge.
"Those citations were inaccurate. Not the sum and substance, but essentially the citations themselves," Cohen testified Thursday, leading to an exchange that illustrated the disbarred attorney’s careful, sometimes hair-splitting responses to cross-examination.
"When you say the citations were inaccurate, you mean the cases didn’t exist, right?" Blanche asked.
"Under that citation, no."
"The three cases that you gave to your attorney were not real cases, correct?"
"That’s correct," Cohen acknowledged.
12 p.m. ET: Todd Blanche argues that Michael Cohen had White House ambitions
The defense is now seeking to undermine Michael Cohen’s repeated contention that he had no aspirations to work in the White House following Trump’s election victory.
"The truth is, Mr. Cohen, you really wanted to work in the White House, correct?" asked Blanche.
"No sir," Cohen replied.
Blanche then referred to a series of text messages, first presented by prosecutors earlier in the week, showing private conversations he’d had in November 2016. In one message, Cohen texted his daughter that he still had a shot of becoming the president’s chief of staff. Another shows Cohen telling a friend that she could serve as his assistant once he gets the position.
Reiterating his previous testimony, Cohen said that while he may have wanted to be considered as chief of staff for "ego reasons," he was seeking a role as personal attorney to the president.
"I don’t think you’re characterizing this correctly at all," Cohen said. "My conversations with my daughter, I wanted a hybrid position where I would still have access to President Trump but I would not be a White House employee."
11:50 a.m. ET: The ‘Mr. Potato Head of crimes’
Outside the courthouse during a morning break, conservative Republican lawmakers immediately lit into Michael Cohen’s credibility, levying criticism against him and others that Trump is prohibited from doing himself, the Associated Press reported.
Rep. Matt Gaetz called Cohen a liar "who committed these lies for his own benefit" and colorfully referenced the case against Trump as the "Mr. Potato Head of crimes, where they had to stick together a bunch of things that did not belong together."
Gaetz and others, including House Freedom Caucus members Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Ralph Norman, also criticized the judge’s daughter — something a gag order specifically prohibits Trump from doing. Norman called the whole proceeding "a kangaroo court, plain and simple."
Throughout the lawmakers’ comments, people nearby could be heard shouting criticism and obscenities at them.
11:45 a.m. ET: Todd Blanche presses Michael Cohen about his congressional hearing
Trump lawyer Blanche grilled Michael Cohen about his contradictory testimony at a congressional hearing and a subsequent deposition in 2019 about whether he’d seek or accept a pardon from Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported.
In his prepared remarks, Cohen told the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Feb. 27, 2019, "I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from President Trump."
Ten days later, at a congressional deposition, Cohen testified that he had directed his lawyer to explore the possibility of a pardon.
"I never asked for it," Cohen testified Thursday. "I spoke to my attorney about it because we had seen President Trump on television talking about potentially prepardoning everybody and putting an end to this — what I considered a nightmare. So I reached out to my attorney, asking him whether this was legitimate."
At the March 6, 2019, deposition, Cohen attempted to reconcile his disparate remarks by saying that he was "talking about the present tense" in his committee testimony and "wasn’t talking about the past tense when I was writing my statement."
Asked to explain on Thursday, Cohen testified: "At that present moment it was true. I wanted this nightmare to end. It was being dangled. I saw it on television. So I asked them, is this something that’s really being talked about? Can you find out?"
Cohen’s lawyer at the time, Michael Monico, followed up with a letter to the Oversight Committee explaining the disparity and confirming that Cohen had asked his attorney to "discuss with another Trump attorney possible pardon options consistent with the president’s prior public declarations."
On the witness stand Thursday, Cohen said, "The conversation was confusing to me at the time, so we corrected the record."
"Sir, this wasn’t a confusing conversation," Blanche responded. Referencing Cohen’s prepared statement to the Oversight Committee, the lawyer said: "This was a prewritten statement by you that you then read into the record when the testimony started."
11:40 a.m. ET: Todd Blanche and Michael Cohen continue to quarrel over lies and untruths
Todd Blanche pushed Michael Cohen, repeatedly and emphatically, on his admission that he had lied when pleading guilty to some federal charges, including tax fraud, before Judge William Pauley.
Cohen does not dispute the bulk of the defense’s characterizations, though he has couched some of his answers in legalistic terms. For his part, Blanche appears intent on connecting the words "lie" and "lying" to Cohen as often as possible.
In one representative exchange, Blanche asked Cohen if he agreed "that when you plead guilty to a crime and you’re lying, that’s not accepting responsibility for your conduct?"
After Cohen expressed ambivalence, Blanche continued, "You lied, you lied to the judge when you plead guilty," adding: "Do you think Judge Pauley would have liked to know that you lied to him?"
Cohen initially said he wasn’t sure, before conceding the point. "I am certain he would have," he said.
11:30 a.m. ET: The blame game
In a lightning round of questions and answers, Todd Blanche pointed out that Michael Cohen has, over time, blamed various other people for his problems, including his accountant, a bank, federal prosecutors and a federal judge.
And, Blanche asked, "You blamed President Trump?"
"Yes, sir," Cohen replied.
11:15 a.m. ET: Michael Cohen talks taxis
Michael Cohen explained his role in New York City’s taxi medallion system, the unusual and archaic economic model that underpins the city’s for-hire vehicle industry.
Cohen owned 32 medallions — of an estimated 13,000 citywide — which he leased out to Evgeny Freidman, a figure known locally as New York’s "Taxi King."
"It would be no different than if you were leasing an apartment from somebody," Cohen said of his relationship with Freidman. "He would lease my medallion or medallions in agreement with the contract and he would pay me a sum every month whether he made money or not."
Blanche, like many before him, appeared confused by the system, asking Cohen to again explain how it works.
Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges that included hiding more than $1.3 million in income that he received from Freidman. Freidman was later sentenced to probation for tax fraud.
11 a.m. ET: Trump’s lawyer works to portray Michael Cohen as a backtracker
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche picked at Michael Cohen’s previous insistence that he felt federal prosecutors had squeezed him into pleading guilty in 2018.
When Cohen entered his guilty plea, Blanche noted, he’d told the judge no one had induced or threatened him to plead guilty. Eventually, the defense lawyer compelled Cohen to admit that he’d lied when he said that, according to the Associated Press.
Cohen has said that he was told that if he didn’t accept the plea, he and his wife would be indicted. "I elected to protect my family," he testified. The U.S. attorney in Manhattan has never responded publicly to Cohen’s claim.
Asked again if he felt like he’d been induced to plead guilty, Cohen said: "I never denied the underlying facts. I just did not believe I should have been criminally charged for either of those two — or six — offenses."
So, Blanche asked, did he lie when he said during his guilty plea that no one pressured him to plead guilty?
"That was not true," Cohen said.
10:50 a.m. ET: Why did Michael Cohen lie to Congress?
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche is digging into why Cohen admitted lying to Congress. While Cohen previously told a federal judge he was accepting responsibility for the falsehoods, Blanche notes that Cohen has also repeatedly said that he lied out of loyalty to Trump.
Cohen testifies that his statement to Congress — crafted with lawyers who were working together with Trump and his attorneys — was styled "in order to stay on message, a message that we all knew Mr. Trump wanted."
Cohen went on to testify that he does accept responsibility for what he did.
10:45 a.m. ET: Todd Blanche focuses on Michael Cohen’s previous under-oath lies
Pivoting from Michael Cohen’s podcasts to his criminal history, Blanche grilled him about his 2018 guilty plea to federal charges, including for lying to Congress about a Trump Tower Moscow project, the Associated Press reported.
As he did when pleading guilty, Cohen conceded on the witness stand that he lied to two congressional committees about his contacts with Russian officials and lied when he said he never agreed to travel to Russia in connection with the project and never discussed with Trump plans to travel to Moscow to support the project.
"Just related to that issue, you lied under oath, correct?" Blanche asked.
"Yes sir," Cohen said.
10:40 a.m. ET: Jurors hear Michael Cohen’s podcast
Trump’s attorneys gave jurors a picture of Michael Cohen’s on-air persona, playing two clips of his podcasts in which he discussed Trump and the potential charges in this case.
In the recordings played in the courtroom, Cohen’s voice was louder, high-pitched and much more animated than the reserved and concise way he’s been answering questions. In one clip from an episode Blanche said was from October 2020, Cohen could be heard using an expletive and saying he truly hopes "that this man ends up in prison."
"It won’t bring back the year that I lost or the damage done to my family. But revenge is a dish best served cold," Cohen says in the clip. He adds: "You better believe that I want this man to go down."
Blanche asked Cohen if he continued to call Trump various names on his podcasts and when he did interviews on CNN, and Cohen said he did.
"And that has continued even during this trial?" Blanche asked.
"Correct," Cohen said.
10:35 p.m. ET: How did Michael Cohen learn about Trump’s indictment?
Objecting repeatedly, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger disrupted Blanche’s efforts to get text message exchanges between Cohen and investigator Jeremy Rosenberg shown to jurors or read into the record. Hoffinger noted that the messages were heavily redacted, which Cohen then said deprived them of important context.
The messages were from around the time of Trump’s indictment on March 30. Blanche suggested that Rosenberg had confirmed for Cohen that the former president had been indicted, but Cohen said that news was already being reported by the news media. Cohen said he found out from The New York Times.
While the indictment remained under seal until Trump’s April 4 arraignment, the news of the indictment was widely reported. Some reporters even witnessed the moment officials brought the paperwork into the courthouse clerk’s office.
10:30 a.m. ET: Matt Gaetz evokes Proud Boys moment in defending Trump
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz echoed comments Donald Trump once made to the extremist Proud Boys, in a social media post with a photo of him and other Republicans behind Trump at the court, the Associated Press reported.
"Standing back, and standing by, Mr. President," he wrote.
The extremist group, whose leaders were convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, used that phrase to support Trump after he told the group to "stand back and stand by" after refusing to criticize the group in a 2020 debate against Joe Biden.
Clarification: A previous version of this post noted Gaetz evoked extremist language. It’s unclear whether Gaetz’s words was referencing Trump’s message to the Proud Boys or to the language of the extremist group itself.
10:12 a.m. ET: David and Goliath
Trump lawyer Tood Blanche asked Michael Cohen about TV interviews he did when news of Trump’s indictment emerged last year, including a CNN appearance in which he compared himself and Trump to the Biblical David and Goliath.
Cohen confirmed that, in text messages not shown to jurors, an investigator with the prosecutors’ office complimented him on at least one of the interviews, though prosecutors also asked Cohen to refrain from talking to the news media about the case.
10 a.m. ET: Michael Cohen takes the stand
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche resumed his cross-examination by asking Michael Cohen about text messages he exchanged with an investigator for the Manhattan district attorney’s office who collected his cell phones as part of the hush money probe.
Blanche started showing Cohen copies of the text messages when a prosecutor interrupted and asked to speak with the judge and defense team at the bench. They quickly conferred to ensure the messages would be shown specifically to Cohen, not the jurors. Questioning subsequently resumed.
9 a.m. ET: Trump's GOP surrogates prepare to join him at court
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Testimony resumes in Trump hush money trial
More Testimony from fmr. Trump attorney Michael Cohen resumes today. The former president on trial over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Breaking down the case for us is fmr. Trial Attorney, Jeremy Rosenthal.
The chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Bob Good, of Virginia, appeared Thursday morning with Rep. Matt Gaetz, of Florida, outside Trump Tower to support Donald Trump shortly before the indicted former president left for court.
Gaetz is not a member of the Freedom Caucus but is a top Trump ally. Several other Republicans were expected Thursday at the court.
The House Oversight Committee, led by Republicans, postponed a morning meeting until evening, as GOP lawmakers made their way to New York.
As part of their attack on the justice system, Republicans on the panel are considering Thursday a contempt-of-Congress resolution against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in a separate matter, over their investigation of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.
The former president waved before getting into his motorcade and heading to the courthouse for the day.
Michael Cohen’s testimony this week
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Trump attorney's grill Michael Cohen to discredit witness
The long awaited moment, in former President Donald Trump's New York trial, has come. Trump attorneys grilled Michael Cohen, trying to discredit the key witness against him. Trial attorney, Jeremy Rosenthal, joined LiveNOW from FOX to break down the latest developments in the 'hush money trial'.
Over two days on the witness stand, Cohen placed Trump directly at the center of the alleged scheme to stifle negative stories to fend off damage to his White House bid.
Cohen told jurors that Trump promised to reimburse him for the money he fronted and was constantly updated about efforts to silence women who alleged sexual encounters with him.
Trump denies the women’s claims.
Trump's hush money case
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Attorney weighs in on Trump hush money case
Ex-Trump Attorney Michael Cohen testified today in the hush money case against the former president. Randy Zelin, Criminal Defense Attorney weighs in.
The indictment against Trump centers on payoffs allegedly made to two women, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Trump’s former lawyer and "fixer," Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 and arranged for the publisher of the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid to pay McDougal $150,000.
Trump's company, the Trump Organization, then reimbursed Cohen and paid him bonuses and extra payments – all of which, prosecutors say, were falsely logged as legal expenses in company records. Over several months, Cohen said the company paid him $420,000.
Payments were also allegedly made to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he alleged Trump had out of wedlock.
The indictment, brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, made Trump the first ex-president ever to face criminal charges.
Trump has denied the accusations.
Who are the jurors?
After being forced to release a seated juror, the judge ordered the media not to report on where potential jurors have worked – even when stated in open court – and to be careful about revealing information about those who would sit in judgment of the former president. Here's what we can report.
Juror 1 and foreperson: A man who lives in New York City and has no children. Loves the outdoors and gets his news from The New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and MSNBC.
When asked by Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche if he was aware Trump is charged in other cases and jurisdictions, and how that affects him, the man said, "I don’t have an opinion."
Juror 2: A man who said he follows Trump’s former lawyer, Cohen, on "X," formerly known as Twitter. He also revealed he follows other right-wing accounts including Trump’s former adviser, Kellyanne Conway.
He has said he would unfollow Cohen as he may be a witness in the trial.
Juror 3: A middle-aged man who lives in Manhattan. He grew up in Oregon. He gets his news from The New York Times and Google.
Juror 4: A man who lived in New York City for 15 years. He is originally from California. He is married with three children and a wife who is a teacher. He has served on a jury before – both on a grand jury and a jury in a criminal trial.
The juror said he gets his news from "a smattering" of sources and does not use social media.
Juror 5: A young woman who is a New York native.
She gets most of her news from Google and Tiktok.
Juror 6: A young woman who lives in Manhattan and likes to dance.
Juror 7: A man who is married with two children.
He gets most of his news from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and The Washington Post. The man has said he is aware there are other lawsuits but said, "I’m not sure that I know anyone’s character."
Juror 8: No information has been released about this juror.
Juror 9: A woman who lives in Manhattan. She is not married and has no children.
She has never served on a jury before and does not watch the news. However, she said she does have email subscriptions to CNN and The New York Times. She follows social media accounts and listens to podcasts. She also enjoys watching reality TV.
Juror 10: A man who lives in Manhattan. He is not married and has no children. He does have a roommate who works in accounting. He rarely follows the news but he does listen to podcasts on behavioral psychology.
Juror 11: No information has been released about this juror.
Juror 12: No information has been released about this juror.
How long will the trial last?
The trial is expected to last anywhere from six to eight weeks. Trump is expected to attend court each day.
How can I watch the Trump trial?
The trial is not being televised. Instead, news reporters and producers will have the ability to sit inside the courtroom and deliver information to the public.
How many court cases is Trump involved in?
As of this report, Trump is currently involved in four criminal cases, which includes the hush money case.
A second case out of Fulton County, Georgia, has charged Trump, as well as 18 others, with participating in a scheme to illegally attempt to overturn the former president’s loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump is also involved in a third criminal case in Washington, D.C., which charged him with allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
And his fourth case involves classified documents that Trump illegally retained at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House.
RELATED: A guide to Trump’s court cases
The Associated Press, FOX News, FOX 5 NY and Catherine Stoddard contributed to this report.