Kayla Epstein & Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We're revisiting one of the more humorous exchanges from the trial.

In a series of text messages, National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard and Karen McDougal's then-lawyer Keith Davidson joked about getting ambassadorships after the election, as they brokered a deal for the tabloid to catch-and-kill the Playboy model's story.

The jokes show the two men are helping Trump get elected, Steinglass claims.

"They're doing it by squashing the Karen McDougal story."

As Steinglass walks the jury through a very long series of events, he uses text messages, phone calls and records displayed on the screen to support his argument.

We've seen these types of documents before, but Steinglass is trying to remind jurors one final time of all the evidence they seen.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Joshua Steinglass has spent the last few minutes trying to tie Donald Trump directly to the hush-money payments.

Earlier, Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, attempted to distance Trump from the payments.

Steinglass shows the court transcripts of an interview with former National Enquirer publisher, David Pecker.

Pecker recounted a call he had with Trump and Michael Cohen about buying a story of Trump's alleged affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Eventually, Pecker decided to buy her story, thinking Trump would pay him back.

“This call proves that not only did the defendant know about it, but he actively participated in it,” Steinglass alleges.

"Trump is looming behind everything they're doing," he claims.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Joshua Steinglass is now going over the various catch-and-kill deals that we've heard about in this case.

He's talking about the attempt to keep Karen McDougal, a Playboy model, silent about an alleged affair with Donald Trump.

On a screen, Steinglass refreshes the jury's memory about a series of calls and messages involving Cohen, Pecker and National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, who was working with Trump's lawyer to catch-and-kill McDougal's story.

For a moment, the prosecutor's words blur into flurry of names - Cohen-Pecker-Howard-Cohen-Pecker - before he interrupts himself.

"Is that too fast?" Steinglass asks the court stenographer. He slows down.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Prosecutors are finally saying a bit more about the second crime they claim Donald Trump was trying to cover up with his alleged falsification of business records.

Joshua Steinglass alleges the hush-money payments amounted to “illegal corporate campaign contribution[s]” made by former tabloid publisher, David Pecker.

The payments were done “in collusion with the campaign”, Steinglass claims.

Prosecutors allege it amounts to campaign contributions because the hush-money payments were designed to protect Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign from damage.

Prosecutors don't have to show that Trump committed a second crime. But they do have to show that by falsifying the business records, he intended to conceal or commit a second crime.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

So why should the jury care about what these three men discussed at Trump Tower in 2015?

Joshua Steinglass posits that the value of this "corrupt bargain" could not be overstated.

“It turned out to be one of the most valuable contributions anyone ever made to the Trump campaign," Steinglass says.

The prosecutor says this meeting and the agreement, "could very well be what got President Trump elected”.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Joshua Steinglass expands on the allegations that Donald Trump illegally influenced the 2016 presidential election.

We haven’t heard a huge amount from prosecutors during this trial about this, but it is the key to their argument that Trump committed a felony by trying to conceal this second crime.

We will likely learn more about Trump's alleged violations as Steinglass goes on.

Steinglass says Trump’s catch-and-kill scheme with Michael Cohen and David Pecker was about the “subversion of democracy”.

He says the American people deserve to have access to information that influences their voting choices.

“The entire purpose of this meeting at Trump Tower was to deny that access,” Steinglass says, adding Trump, Cohen and Pecker sought to “pull the wool over” the eyes of voters in a coordinated fashion.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Over and done - for now - with the Michael Cohen matter, Joshua Steinglass turns to the actual meat of this trial.

He says that the August 2015 meeting at Trump Tower between David Pecker, Donald Trump, and Michael Cohen, should be the "prism" through which to view the whole case.

He reminds jurors of Pecker's testimony - that the men agreed to three things:

• To use Pecker's National Enquirer tabloid to promote positive stories about Trump, and work with the campaign to do so
• To publish negative stories about Donald Trump's opponents
• And to stop negative stories from coming to light

The purpose was to help Donald Trump's campaign, Steinglass says.

"The real game changer of this meeting was the catch-and-kill component," Steinglass tells the court, saying its "the illegal" part.

He claims that once money starts changing hands, that's where they run afoul of federal campaign finance laws.

"They discussed catch-and-kill plenty," Steinglass says, refuting Todd Blanche's earlier claim.

They didn't use the term "catch-and-kill", but that's what it was, he says.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters / Jane Rosenberg

Joshua Steinglass tells the court that at the end of the day, this case is not about Michael Cohen.

However, he has been the focus of most of the closing arguments on both sides so far today.

The question is “not whether you like Cohen or whether you want to go into business with Michael Cohen”, Steinglass says, looking directly at jurors.

He says Cohen should serve as a “tour guide through the physical evidence” that is indisputable.

Steinglass then begins to take the jury on that evidence tour, displaying a timeline on the screen of the events that transpired leading up to the hush-money payment and reimbursement.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Joshua Steinglass goes right at the heart of one of the Trump team's biggest claims: that Michael Cohen is a flagrant liar.

Well if that was the case, Steinglass asks, wouldn't he have lied about even more things?

“How easy would it have been for the defendant to go further?" Steinglass asks, and hypothesises Cohen could have claimed, for example, that Trump had confirmed to him he slept with Stormy Daniels.

But he didn't, Steinglass says.

"He's limited by what's actually happened. That's what he's going to tell you, he's not going to tell you anything beyond that."

Steinglass then uses Cohen to reflect poorly on Donald Trump.

"The defendant chose Michael Cohen," Steinglass exclaims. "To be his fixer! Because he was willing to lie and cheat on Mr Trump's behalf."

He said Cohen was drawn to Trump “like a moth to a flame” because of their shared qualities.

"We didn't choose Michael Cohen. We didn't pick him up at the witness store."

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Joshua Steinglass is addressing a moment where Trump’s legal team believes they caught Michael Cohen in a lie - his testimony about a phone call made to Donald Trump and his bodyguard.

Cohen claims he talked to Trump about the hush-money payment scheme during this phone call. But defence lawyer Todd Blanche showed texts that suggested Cohen may have discussed a teen prankster.

“To them, that is the big lie. But that’s not the only interpretation,” Steinglass tells the court.

The prosecutor says it was highly possible that Cohen talked about both issues during the phone call.

He reads a sample transcript of a conversation about a hush-money payment that he says would last roughly 50 seconds - less than the 90 seconds the phone call lasted.

He suggested that at worse, Cohen could have simply misremembered the date, claiming that does not make him a liar.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters

Joshua Steinglass is now addressing Michael Cohen’s credibility - something Trump's lawyers have worked hard to erode over trial.

Steinglass says he knows Cohen is a difficult witness.

“I told you then that Cohen has baggage. He’s a convicted felon. He’s lied under oath,” the prosecutor tells the jury.

Steinglass claims Cohen is “understandably angry” because he was the one who faced punishment for doing Trump’s “bidding”.

But he argues that does not make Cohen unreliable.

“Anyone in Cohen’s shoes should want the defendant to be held accountable,” Steinglass says.

The prosecutor is also addressing the fact that Cohen stole $30,000 from the Trump Organization when his bonus was lessened.

That was wrong, Steinglass says. “That’s stealing. We agree.”

But that does not make Cohen less reliable, Steinglass implies.

Cohen “volunteered” that information and was not trying to hide it, the prosecutor adds.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Next, Joshua Steinglass pushes back against claims made by the defence that Stormy Daniels was lying.

Stormy Daniels was "demonised" by Trump's lawyers, he says.

"To be sure, there were parts of her testimony that were cringeworthy," Steinglass tells the jury.

The detailed account of their alleged sexual encounter was uncomfortable, he says, but adds that he thinks they bolstered her credibility.

"It's certainly true that we don't have to prove sex actually took place," Steingass says.

"If her testimony was so irrelevant, why did they work so hard to discredit her?" he asks.

"In the simplest term, Stormy Daniels is the motive," Steinglass concludes.

And he tells the jury that Trump would not have paid $130,000 "just because he took a photograph with someone on a golf course".

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The lunch break seems to have re-energised jurors.

They're more engaged as Joshua Steinglass begins his closing arguments, looking directly at him and taking notes while he speaks.

That could change after many hours of arguments, though.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, is looking off to the right, away from Steinglass.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Joshua Steinglass is now trying to rebut some of the assertions from Trump's lawyer, who claimed witnesses had lied.

For example, Steinglass says, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker's testimony stands on its own and is "devastating".

Pecker's testimony doesn't need Michael Cohen's testimony to stand up, he claims to the jury.

"Consider it as a whole," Steinglass says.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Joshua Steinglass begins by trying to clean up some of the narratives that Todd Blanche presented during the defence's closing arguments.

The prosecutor notes that Blanche implied Stormy Daniels was trying to extort Trump for money with her claim and she and Donald Trump had sex.

Steinglass says this is not true - Daniels instead wanted to get her story out to “hide in plain view”.

But, he says, in the end it doesn’t really matter whether Trump was extorted by Daniels.

“Extortion is not a defence to falsifying business records,” he says.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass will deliver the all-important summation for the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

At its core, he tells the jury, the case is about “a conspiracy and a cover-up". He alleges it is a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, and a cover up to hide that effort.

He tells the jury that the prosecution must prove three things:

• That there were false business records
• That the false business records were intended to cover up a conspiracy
• That the defendant, Trump, was involved, and that he caused the false business records and had the intent to defraud when he did so

If the jury "ignore the sideshows," Steinglass says, they will see that the evidence points to Trump being guilty.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The jurors have returned, and we're straight back into it with an instruction to the jury from Justice Merchan.

He is telling them they have to disregard defence lawyer Todd Blanche's comment about sending Trump to prison.

Blanche was not supposed to mention potential punishment in his closing arguments, and the judge called the move "outrageous" before the break.

"That comment was improper and you must disregard it," he says.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Reuters / Jane Rosenberg

Donald Trump and his large entourage of family members and supporters are back in the courtroom after the lunch break. When things start up again it will be the prosecution's turn at the podium.

They have said their closing arguments could take as long as four hours.

Donald Trump's lawyers spent more than three hours on closing arguments today.

The lunch break should end soon, about 14:00 local time (19:00 BST).

Then it's the prosecution's turn. Earlier today they suggested their closing arguments would take about four hours.

After closing arguments, the judge will give instructions to the jury.

Justice Merchan asked the jury if they can stay later than usual tonight so he can get this task finished.

With that timeline, it's likely the jury will start their deliberations tomorrow.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York

Two of Donald Trump’s older children just spoke outside of the courthouse, slamming this trial as politically motivated.

Eric Trump said his father would be vindicated and win the election, calling the trial a colossal waste of time. His wife, Lara Trump, used the moment to ask supporters to donate to her father-in-law's campaign.

Don Trump Jr, perhaps preparing messaging in case of a guilty verdict, said he believed there was undue pressure on the jury to convict.