Susan Hoffinger, one of the prosecutors, has started her redirect examination of Cohen.

“I have no further questions,” Blanche told Merchan.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Cohen, “Do you have a financial interest in the outcome of this case?”

“Yes, sir,” Cohen said.

Asked again if Cohen will benefit financially from a conviction, Cohen said no, it’s better if Trump is not found guilty because it “gives me more to talk about in the future.”

Cohen, responding to questions from Blanche, confirmed that he’s thinking about writing a third book and launching a congressional bid.

In addressing Blanche’s questions, Cohen said his name recognition would help in a hypothetical run for Congress. He pushed back on the suggestion that he would simply be coasting off his links to the former president, saying in part: “My name recognition is because of the journey I have been on and it is associated with Trump.”

Blanche replied: “Your journey has included daily attacks on Trump?”

Cohen’s answer: “My journey is to tell my story.”

Law professor Alan Dershowitz, center left, and Bernard Kerik, a former New York city police commissioner, listen to Trump outside the courtroom today.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over Trump’s classified documents case in Florida, has granted his request to not be required to attend a hearing in Florida on Wednesday.

Cannon said counsel for Trump must attend, but Trump himself does not.

Cannon this month indefinitely delayed the trial because of multiple pretrial issues that have yet to be resolved.

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Cohen a series of questions about how much he made in certain years and where it came from.

Asked how much he made in 2017, besides what Trump paid him, Cohen said about $4 million from consulting. He confirmed that he made another $420,000 from Trump.

Asked how much money he made in 2018, Cohen said about $4 million from the 2017 to 2018 period.

Cohen said that he’s made about $4 million annually from books and podcasts, including $3.4 million from two books he wrote. He said he’s not making a significant amount of money off of TikTok, and while he’s not pitching a TV show about himself, someone else is exploring the idea.

Cohen acknowledged he was still talking to Costello by June 23, 2018, and expressed a concern over “nonpayment” to his lawyers at McDermott Will & Emery, which had sent “significant invoices” to the Trump Organization but which were “not being paid in accordance with the invoices.”

Cohen says he expressed to Costello that the nonpayment was becoming an issue and asked that Costello have Giuliani pass that on to Trump. (In this line of questioning, Blanche is inadvertently calling attention to Trump’s history of not paying people such as building contractors.)

After initially testifying that he talked to Robert Costello 10 or so times, Cohen said today that he actually spoke for more than nine hours total with Costello over the course of a few months and had 75 communications with him.

Blanche asked Cohen if he rememberd a call with Costello that lasted an hour and a half over Memorial Day weekend; Cohen testified that he does not remember the date, but that yes, he remembered some lengthy calls.

Asked who initiated more calls between them, Cohen said, “I believe Mr. Costello reached out more to me.”

Cohen said he met with Costello once or twice.

Blanche is asking Cohen about his conversations with multiple people cited in a 2018 Wall Street Journal article, including his family, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and his college friend Steve Croman.

Croman is a real estate landlord who has drawn harsh criticism for his alleged treatment of tenants. Earlier this year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the state had reached a $514,000 settlement with Croman for allegedly defrauding renters.

Blanche is asking Cohen about his conversations with multiple people after the Wall Street Journal article came out in 2018, including his family, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and his college friend, Steve Croman, as Croman was serving jail time.

Cohen told all of these people, at the time, that Trump knew nothing about the payment, and in some cases, even recorded himself talking to various reporters.

With his cross-examination this morning, Blanche is using Cohen’s repeated denials to create doubt about the veracity of Cohen’s testimony now.

Blanche is grilling Cohen over a string of consulting contracts he signed in 2017, including one with the telecoms giant AT&T. Cohen confirmed that Trump introduced him to the then-CEO of AT&T, but he conceded he never told the former president about these clients.

Cohen testified that, at some point, Trump asked about his fixer’s consulting work. “He was frustrated you signed a deal with AT&T?” Blanche said.

The prosecution objected to the question. The judge sustained the objection.

The jury is having a tough time; jurors are rubbing their eyes, holding their head in hands and shifting in seats.