Lauren Boebert

Michael Cohen endured a new barrage of questioning under cross-examination at former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial in Manhattan on Thursday — and Trump defense counsel Todd Blanche manage to land one hit by establishing one of Cohen's recalled calls to Trump in 2016 wasn't actually to Trump, and wasn't necessarily about adult film star Stormy Daniels.

But for all of that, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti told MSNBC's Ari Melber that evening, the defense has actually dropped the ball in a big way, by failing to bring up one of the most important lines of questioning that could put doubt in the minds of the jurors.

Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu clashed with former Trump payroll lawyer William Brennan on CNN Thursday, following a contentious day of cross-examination in which Trump attorney Todd Blanche raised possible discrepancies about the purpose of a phone call in 2016 that Michael Cohen had said was about hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

"I think it was a good cross-exam moment, but the mere fact that you scream at the witness doesn't mean that you've won the point on cross-examination," said Wu. "A lot of people mistake that as the dramatic moment, meaning that has some substance to it. It doesn't. I mean, this is something that could be quite easily addressed on redirect. From a jury standpoint, one thing to remember too, is the extent you see Cohen leaning back in the chair or thinking to himself, you know, not really sure. That's actually not the hallmark of a pathological liar. The pathological liar doesn't reconsider the accuracy. They just like totally lean into it. That may actually have the opposite effect on the jury. They may think he's actually thinking carefully. He is trying to be accurate."