Prosecutor stresses why payments weren't legal fees
Prosecutor Josh Steinglass emphasizing why the jury should not believe the 2017 payments to Michael Cohen were legal fees.
"The testimony was that he did less than 10 hours of legal work [in 2017] ... Cohen spent more time being cross-examined for this trial than he did doing legal work for Trump in 2017," Steinglass said.
"The fact is, Cohen did pretty well here. He got a cool title -- Personal Attorney to the President -- that he used to his advantage to get consulting gigs.
![PHOTO: Defense lawyer Todd Blanche sits with former President Donald Trump as prosecutor Joshua Steinglass presents closing arguments during Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. May 28, 2024, in this courtroom sketch.](https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/bfe81d98-62a6-4c39-ac98-b3f4c104ef54/donald-trump-40-rt-gmh-240528_1716926922102_hpMain_4x3.jpg)
"He was making more money than any government job would ever pay -- and boy, do I know that," Steinglass joked, receiving a few chuckles from the jury.
"The defense must maintain that these were legal fees, because to say anything else is to admit that the business records are false -- and they can't do that," Steinglass said.