Trump trial live updates: Latest news coverage on hush money case

Steinglass is elaborating now without a jury present about his objection during the cross-examination of Pecker.

“That was a totally improper line of questioning” and an “improper impeachment violation” of the witness, Steinglass says.

Steinglass is arguing that the documents Bove has been referencing would not help Pecker remember what he’s saying, leaving a false impression to jurors that Pecker could have remembered what he was saying if he looked at them.

“There wasn’t anything in that document and therefore it’s misleading,” Judge Merchan said.

Bove tries to jump in. Merchan cuts him off.

“Are you missing my point?” he said. “Please be careful.”

Court is done for the day.

Bove questions Pecker’s earlier testimony about Hope Hicks jumping in and out of the August 2015 Trump Tower meeting. That elicits an objection from prosecution attorney Joshua Steinglass.

Judge Merchan sustains the objection.

Bove is suggesting that Pecker didn’t mention Hope Hicks at any point in his July 2018 meeting with prosecutors.

“I don’t remember,” Pecker says.

Steinglass wants to approach the bench again.

It’s the third time they’ve done so over this particular line of questioning.

Trump looks casual, and unworried, chatting with defence attorney Susan Necheles while the attorneys are at the bench. He’s gestured towards them a couple of times.

And with that, Merchan is excusing jurors for the day.

Pecker is still on the stand, alone, looking like he’s just seen a ghost.

Cross-examination will resume and likely finish tomorrow.

Bove: “Because in fairness it’s hard to remember the dates of these things even when they happened a couple of months ago, right?”

Trump is the most alert he’s been all day. Chin up, staring at Pecker, jerking his head.

Bove keeps trying to suggest prosecutors prepped him for testimony and has been instructed to say what he’s saying today.

“What I said under oath was the truth,” Pecker says. “That’s all I planned on doing today.”

Bove’s line of questioning about Pecker not giving an exact date for the Trump Tower meeting in August 2015 suggests that he is trying to cast to the jury that his testimony is unreliable. He notes that Trump wasn’t even in New York City in the first week of August because he was preparing for a debate.

“You changed your testimony this week on this issue,” Bove says.

Steinglass keeps trying to object.

“Why did you change your testimony?” Bove says.

Pecker wasn’t sure what the date was, just that it was in the middle of August.

“I don’t mean to put you on the spot,” Bove says. “Even when you’re doing your best … it’s hard to remember what people said almost 10 years ago, correct? … You fill in some details to keep them in sequence, and to make them sound logical?”

Pecker can only say yes. Bove will certainly be using this against him to make the rest of his testimony look wholly unreliable.