13:30
Blanche to Cohen: Why did you say Trump 'belongs in a f***ing cage' like an animal?

Cohen is confronted with his own foul-mouthed attacks

Jurors are showing no signs of blushing at Blanche’s series of direct and even profane questions using Cohen’s own words.

The lawyer is establishing a record of Cohen speaking about the case despite the judge’s admonitions.

‘You referred to President Trump as a dictator douchebag, didn’t you?’ he said.

‘Sounds like something I said,’ was Cohen’s response.‘You referred to President Trump when he left the courtroom,’ saying he ‘goes right into that little cage, which is where he belongs in a f****** cage like an animal,’ was Blanche’s next question.

6 minutes ago
'Crying little s--t': Blanche brings up Cohen's TikTok immediately during cross-examination
By Kyle Schnitzer

Todd Blanche came out swinging against Michael Cohen — immediately bringing up his TikTok posts that he's harped upon during the trial.

Blanche asked Cohen whether he recently described Trump as "crying little s--t" on TikTok in an April 23 post.

"It sounds like something I would say," Cohen said, before prosecutors objected.

Blanche then asked Cohen about a post where he mentioned himself and attorney Susan Necheles before more objections.

The judge then had a brief sidebar with lawyers and ordered the questions and answers stricken from the record.

"The questions are stricken. I don't believe there was an answer," the judge said.

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11:51
Prosecution prepares Cohen for a bruising cross-examination from Trump's lawyers

From Rob Crilly, Senior Political Reporter inside the courtroom

The prosecution is working hard now to inoculate Cohen against what will be a difficult cross-examination.

In particular, Cohen pled guilty to tax evasion and making a false statement to a bank.

But during a recent Trump civil case, under oath, he said the guilty plea was essentially a lie, that he wasn't guilty, making him a perjuror in one court or the other.

That is a problem for the prosecution which now has him at the center of its case. What will the jury make of the idea that this is a man who lies to courts?

The prosecution is trying to tease out that Cohen has accepted the facts of the case against him, that there was an omission in his bank forms and an error in his taxes.

His point, he explains, is that for a first time offender with a clean tax history, prosecutors came down on him in an unusually heavy way.

The prosecution now has to deal with the fact he lost his law license and is now an outspoken critic of Trump - issues that will all be emphasized when the defense gets its chance to ask the questions.