State attorney Kevin Wallace, arguing against the defense's motion for a directed verdict to end the trial early, reiterated that the state's case relies on documents that they say incriminate Donald Trump and his adult sons.

"This is a documents case," Wallace said. "Each of the three defendants signed documents saying they were responsible for the fair presentation of the statements."

While the defendants all testified that they relied on accountants, Wallace said by way of analogy that it's like the defense saying that using an accountant absolves an individual of filing false tax returns.

"I am liable for that fraudulence," Wallace said. "I am not relieved of my responsibility because I handed off to an accountant."

Clifford Robert, a lawyer for Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., argued that his clients were caught in a political "fight between the attorney general and their father" and should be cleared from the fraud case, as part of the defense's motion for a directed verdict to end the trial

"The evidence is clear that my clients had no real involvement in the preparation of the statement of financial condition," Robert said in reference to the allegedly fraudulent documents that are at the center of the New York attorney general's case.

To demonstrate his point, Robert highlighted testimony from six witnesses who attested that Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were not involved in the preparation of their father's financial statements.

Trump attorney Chris Kise, arguing for a directed verdict to end the trial, said that the state relied on the testimony of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in an attempt to show that Trump engaged in a conspiracy to defraud lenders -- but that Cohen's inconsistent testimony doomed their effort.

Cohen testified that Trump spoke "like a mob boss" when he indirectly instructed Cohen and then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to inflate his financial statements, without explicitly saying so.

"This is not a man who speaks in code," Kise said, adding that "you will know what it is he wants" within minutes of talking to Trump.

Judge Arthur Engoron responded to Kise by mentioning what Trump called his "perfect call" in 2019 in with Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskiy, which became the basis for Trump's first impeachment, as an example of Trump speaking in code.

Kise said that the only other testimony that suggested there was a conspiracy to defraud lenders came from a junior Trump Organization executive who claimed Allen Weisselberg told him, "Mr. Trump wanted his net worth on the statement of financial condition to go up." Trump's lawyers have argued his testimony should be inadmissible as hearsay.

"Even if it came in, that statement alone is not proof of any agreement," Kise said.

The attorney general's office, in response to the defense's request for a directed verdict on the basis that the state failed to show that a bank or insurance company complained of fraud on the part of the Trump Organization, conceded that none of its witnesses were asked directly during the case whether they would have moved forward with a loan to the Trump Organization had they known about the fraudulent valuations alleged by the New York AG.

"Did any bank employee say, 'We would have done it different,' and if so who?" Judge Engoron asked the state attorneys.

"Mr. Haigh said that in his deposition," state attorney Kevin Wallace responded, referring to Nicholas Haigh of Deutsche Bank -- though Wallace acknowledged Haigh was not asked that during his direct examination.

Defense attorney Christopher Kise, in his argument for a directed verdict, said the state failed to present any evidence that a bank or insurance company would have dealt with the Trump Organization differently.

"There's no, even theoretical, argument that the approvals, rates or terms would have been different," Kise said. "Ultimately what matters is the decision-making process of the bank. If they would have approved it with this knowledge, then it's not material."

Kise also argued that the inclusion of the so-called "worthless" disclaimer in Trump's statements of financial condition -- which warned lenders that the valuations in the document required judgment and that they should do their own analysis -- prove that Trump had no intent to defraud.

That prompted Engoron to interject.

"You seem to be saying the fact that someone says 'Don't believe me' proves that they are not lying," Engoron said.