Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial has resumed at Manhattan Criminal Court, with the defendant coming face to face with his estranged former “fixer” Michael Cohen in Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom.
Cohen is the attorney who made the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels at the heart of the case in the hope of buying her silence about a sexual encounter she claims she had with Mr Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel room in July 2006.
When the story emerged shortly before the 2016 election, Cohen testified Mr Trump cared more about the impact on his presidential campaign than his marriage to Melania Trump.
The former president denies the affair and the 34 felony counts brought against him by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who accuses him of falsifying business records to hide the payout.
Ms Daniels herself took to the witness stand last week to deliver some highly explicit and embarrassing evidence against Mr Trump and more than held her own in response to hostile cross-examination from the defence, which worked hard to discredit her.
Alex Woodward and Kelly Rissman are covering the trial for The Independent from Manhattan Criminal Court.