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.
