Before ending his cross-examination, defense attorney Emil Bove attempted to pour cold water on a small narrative element prosecutors advanced about the location of handwritten notes containing arithmetic related to the reimbursing of Michael Cohen.

Then-CFO Allen Weisselberg, who jotted down the notes, ordered McConney to put the notes in a locked cabinet, McConney said earlier, suggesting that the document was intended to remain secret.

But Bove argued that "the reason that cabinet was locked was because the payroll book" was inside of it, containing sensitive information about employee salaries, bonuses and social security numbers.

"It's not that these notes were particularly sensitive," Bove said. "You locked the drawer to keep that sort of sensitive information secure?"

Furthermore, Bove asked, "Isn't it a fact that most of the drawers in your office were locked?"

McConney confirmed this, and said he had "a lot of sensitive information" in his office.

During a brief re-direct examination, prosecutors attempted to distance McConney from the agreement to reimburse Cohen for the Stormy Daniels payment and suggest that McConney was just following orders.

"Did you participate in any conversations with Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohen and Mr. Weisselberg?" prosecutor Matthew Colangelo asked.

"No sir," McConney said.

"This was all happening above your head?" Colangelo asked.

"Yes," McConney said.

"You were told something and you did it?" the prosecutor asked.

"Yes," McConney responded.

Court subsequently recessed for the lunch break.

During a rapid-fire series of questions during his cross-examination of former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, defense attorney Emil Bove suggested that the Trump Organization faced a business risk stemming from bad publicity.

"There was a very real commercial risk to adverse publicity?" Bove asked McConney after listing some of the Trump Organization's international holdings.

"I am not a marketing person -- it's hard for me to answer that question," McConney responded.

McConney later conceded that negative publicity could be "bad for business."

The line of questioning suggests the defense team could be planning to advance the argument that the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election was done to protect Trump's business.

Defense lawyers have previously explained the arrangement as Trump attempting to shield his family from Daniel's allegations that she and Trump had a sexual encounter.

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.