#Blanche has yet to ask #MichaelCohen about anything in connection to the actual case that's on trial.

Trump's lawyers have focused on impeaching the credibility of the prosecution's 2 biggest witnesses, #StormyDaniels & Cohen. Though while Susan #Necheles’s cross-examination of Daniels was largely focused & had an arc, Blanche’s cross-examination of Cohen has been all over the place.

#Blanche is continuing w/the same kind of approach that #Trump atty #Necheles used on #StormyDaniels, to smear the witness.

“Do you want President Trump to get convicted in this case?” Blanche asks.

“Sure,” Cohen responds.

Some of Cohen’s blunt responses, including this one, have elicited laughter in the overflow room.

#MichaelCohen continues to testify about the times prosecutors have warned him not to talk about the trial.

#Trump smiles at one of his lawyers, Susan #Necheles, who smiles back.

#Blanche is now making it clear that Cohen defied prosecutors’ wishes by talking to reporters. The idea, again, is to show Cohen is capable of going off on his own & doing what he wants, which the defense will likely say he did while working w/Trump.

#Mangold, the prosecutor, questions #Westerhout again during re-direct, & suggests that her actual knowledge about the reaction to the #AccessHollywood tape was nonexistent because she wasn't working for #Trump at the time.

Westerhout admits that she spoke to the defense lawyer #Necheles 2 nights ago. Another indication that she is trying to be a helpful witness to the defense.

Trump atty #Necheles turned to the subject of #StormyDaniels. #Westerhout testifies that the “whole situation” w/Daniels was “very unpleasant.”

But she does not seem to go where Necheles was hoping she would. Necheles asked if #Trump brought up his family in relation to Daniels's claims, but Westerhout said that he did not.

This is important because defense is seeking to suggest that Trump was motivated to pay #HushMoney because of concerns about his family, not the election.

Importantly, #Necheles’s is again not addressing the #criminal charges #Trump faces — the fact that there was a system in place that maybe was about getting Trump his mail promptly — or suggesting that #Westerhout couldn’t see everything he was doing, or all the places checks/mail may have gotten to — all of it, unrelated to the actual charges.

While they only may suggest that there could be some alternate explanation for events, they never say what that explanation is.

#Westerhout testifies #Trump would sign checks while on the phone or in meetings.

#Necheles gets Westerhout to say that Trump felt strongly that he needed to get back to people quickly & was frustrated w/the slow pace of the mail in the WH. He found it disrespectful to friends who were trying to reach him — implying that the workaround to the WH’s mail — used for #HushMoney reimbursement — was not designed to conceal illegality, but bc he wanted to promptly responding to mail.

#Necheles is now taking up a second, familiar defense line, asking #Westerhout to describe #Trump as a multi-tasker who did not pay close attn while signing checks.

Overall, Necheles is seeking to cast doubt on the narrative the prosecution sought to establish yesterday: That Trump kept a close eye on private financial matters even while at the WH, & — in an unusual move — kept the checks out of the normal flow of WH mail by sending them to underlings.

The defense lawyer #Necheles is steering the witness, #Westerhout, toward describing the mailing arrangement for #Trump in the WH as a system that was set up merely to get mail to him quickly. She is seeking to suggest that there was nothing nefarious about it.

Necheles asks whether there was a similar set-up in previous presidential admins as well. Westerhout says that she doesn’t have personal knowledge about this but adds: “I can’t imagine it would have been any different.”

While #Westerhout is testifying about Trump’s travel schedule, #Trump has been glancing down to read his printed puff pieces.

Part of the reason aides supply Trump w/these articles during trials — & they did it at his civil fraud trial last year as well — is to keep him occupied during the proeedings.

#Necheles is now again trying to suggest there were things happening in the chain of custody of mail sent to Trump that would have been out of Westerhout’s view.

Prosecutors say that #AllenWeisselberg, the fmr CFO of the #TrumpOrganization, designed the specific way that #MichaelCohen would be reimbursed for the #HushMoney payment he made to #StormyDaniels. #Weisselberg worked in coordination w/ #Trump, prosecutors say. #Necheles is trying to cast doubt on that.

We are starting to see the “blame it on Allen Weisselberg” defense.

Defense lawyers have sought to use #Westerhout's testimony for their purposes, asking her about her experience during the 2016 campaign. She didn’t testify about that period for the prosecution much — but the defense clearly thinks her knowledge of the campaign could be helpful.

#Trump atty #Necheles is seeking to use Westerhout's testimony to suggest that Trump & #AllenWeisselberg may not have spoken much in 2017, when the alleged falsification of business records occurred.

#Westerhout who worked for #Trump in the #WhiteHouse is back on the stand. Trump atty #Necheles —whose day ended yesterday w/the judge harshly criticizing her, saying she did not object as she should have to some of #StormyDaniels’s testimony— is back questioning this witness.

The prosecutors called Westerhout to testify about Trump’s behavior once in the WH, specifically whether he met w/ #MichaelCohen & how he dealt w/checks.

#Merchan even criticized specific lines of defense’s cross-examination, chiding #Necheles in particular for leaning into the most awkward & uncomfortable parts of #StormyDaniels's testimony w/her questions in a way that he says he simply didn't understand.

[remember, the jury isn’t there]

After insisting to the defense that he barred certain details "to protect your client," Justice Merchan says, "I disagree w/your narrative that there's any new account here."

Justice #Merchan criticizes defense for not #objecting to #testimony that was later used in a motion for #mistrial. He says he agrees that the question about whether #Trump wore a condom should not have been asked or answered. But he says he does not know "why on earth” defense atty #Necheles didn't object to that question.

Not only is Merchan signaling that he will likely reject defense’s mistrial motion, but he's dressing down their lawyering in front of their client.

Steinglass also criticized Blanche's colleague Susan #Necheles's cross-examination of #StormyDaniels, calling it "very thorough but somewhat misleading" [& hardcore #SlutShaming ]

Prosecutor #Steinglass says that the details of Daniels's story before & during the sexual act corroborate her account, & show the fact that sex happened, which increases the motivation to silence her.