Trump trial: Stormy Daniels tells (almost) all about alleged encounter with Trump

While prosecutors say the use of the phrase "legal expenses" to repay Michael Cohen for the Stormy Daniels hush payment amounted to an effort conceal the true nature of the payments, Trump attorney Emil Bove on cross-examination sought to frame that categorization as merely the results of the Trump Organization's "antiquated" internal payment system.

Legal expenses were "part of a drop down menu?" Bove asked former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney.

"Yes," McConney answered.

[The system] was a bit antiquated?" Bove asked.

"Yes," McConney said.

"These categories, there was a level of rigidity to them?," Bove asked.

"Yes," McConney replied.

"So if you are talking about payments to an attorney, legal expenses was the category that was used?" Bove asked.

"Yes," McConney said.

Following the direct examination of former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, the defense began its cross-examination by laying out one of Donald Trump's strongest defense arguments.

"Michael Cohen was a lawyer?" defense attorney Emil Bove asked McConney.

"Sure, yes," McConney said.

"And payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?" asked Bove.

"Yes," said McConney.

"President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you just described ... correct?" Bove asked.

"He did not," McConney replied.

"And as far as you know, President Trump did not ask anyone to do those things?" Bove continued, before an objection.

"In none of the conversations that you had with Mr. Weisselberg, did he suggest that President Trump had told him to do these things?" Bove asked again.

"Allen never told me that," McConney said.

Over the course of Jeffrey McConney's testimony, the former Trump Organization controller has repeatedly invoked the name of his longtime boss, Allen Weisselberg, when describing the conduct and the paper trail underpinning prosecutors' theory of the case.

He and Weisselberg ate lunch every day, McConney testified, and their offices sat beside each other in Trump Tower. At one point during his testimony, McConney said he recognized Weisselberg's penmanship on a key exhibit because "I've read his handwriting for about 35 years."

But as McConney testifies, Weisselberg sits in jail -- one month into a five-month sentence after pleading guilty to two felony counts of perjury for lying under oath during his testimony in former President Trump's civil fraud trial and during the investigation that preceded it.

Weisselberg is not expected to testify at this trial.

Jurors saw the tax forms that the Trump Organization submitted to the Internal Revenue Service related to Michael Cohen's reimbursement.

Jurors saw two 1099 forms -- one for the $105,000 from Trump's trust and another for the $315,000 paid from Trump's personal account.

Former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney testified that that the company doubled Michael Cohen's repayment to compensate for the expected taxes he would owe on the payments.