During an extended back-and-forth, Michael Cohen struggled to admit that he lied to the special counsel in 2018 about Trump's involvement in a Trump Tower project in Moscow.

"Yes, the information I have was not accurate," Cohen said.

"Is it a lie?" Defense attorney Todd Blanche asked.

"It was inaccurate, yes," Cohen said.

"Was it a lie?" Blanche asked.

"I don't know if I would characterize it as a lie. It was inaccurate," Cohen said.

"How are you distinguishing that in your head?" Blanche asked.

"It wasn't truthful," Cohen said. "If you want to call it a lie, it was a lie."

After a long pause, Cohen said, "Sure, I will say it's a lie."

"You're actually obsessed with President Trump?" Blanche asked, pursuing a line of inquiry that he drew attention to in the defense's opening statement.

"I don't know that I would characterize obsessed," Cohen said. "I can't recall using that word, but I can't say it would be wrong."

Blanche asked if Cohen was "knee-deep in the cult of Donald Trump" when he said flattering things about Trump in the past.

"That's how I felt," Cohen said.

"Fair to say you admired President Trump when you were working for him?" Blanche asked.

"Yes sir," Cohen said.

Blanche questioned Cohen about Trump's book "The Art of the Deal," which Cohen has read more than once. Blanche noted that Cohen has publicly called the book a "masterpiece."

Cohen replied, "I viewed it as an excellent book."

"You've actually called it a masterpiece?" Blanche asked.

"Yes, a masterpiece," Cohen said.

As Blanche asked Cohen about his past praise of the former president, Trump quickly grabbed a stack of Post-it notes from the counsel table, jotted down a note, and passed it to attorney Emil Bove, who Trump poked to get his attention.

Jurors were shown a series of items that Michael Cohen sells.

"This is a $32 shirt that has a picture of President Trump in an orange jumpsuit behind bars?" Defense attorney Todd Blanche asked.

"That's what the picture shows," Cohen answered.

"You actually wore that T-shirt on your TikTok last week?" Blanche said.

"I did," Cohen said.

Defense lawyers asked for the judge to order Cohen to stop commenting about Trump last week after they flagged Cohen wearing the shirt on a TikTok live stream, ABC News reported on Friday.

Under cross-examination, Michael Cohen conceded he wants to see Trump found guilty.

"Have you regularly commented on your podcast that you want President Trump to be convicted in this case?" Blanche asked.

"Yes, probably," Cohen said. "I don't specifically know if I used those words but, yes, I would like to see that."

Blanched pressed for a definitive answer.

"I would like to see accountability. That's not for me. That's for the jury and this court," Cohen said.

Blanche pressed, asking, "Do you want President Trump to get convicted in this case?"

Cohen ultimately responded: "Sure."

Defense attorney Todd Blanche attempted to highlight Michael Cohen's contrasting statements about whether he wanted a pardon from then-President Trump.

Cohen told jurors that he never asked Trump for a pardon, though he asked his lawyer about the possibility.

"I never asked for it. I spoke to my attorney about it because we had seen on television President Trump talking about potentially pre-pardoning everyone and putting an end to this," Cohen said.

Cohen confirmed he talked to attorney Robert Costello about exploring the idea of getting a pardon, which he would have accepted at the time.

Blanche said that during Cohen's 2019 Congressional testimony, Cohen said, "I have never asked for, nor would I accept a pardon from President Trump."

Blanche said that Cohen later said something different during a deposition.

"And do you remember being asked the same question, about accepting a pardon ... and you said "you directed your lawyer to explore the possibility because you were 100% open to accepting it?" Blanche asked.

"Yes sir," Cohen said. "At that present moment, it was true. I wanted this nightmare to end ... I asked them, is this really something that they're talking about? Can you find out?"

Pushed by Blanche on the issue, Cohen refused to acknowledge his congressional testimony was a lie.

"That was a lie, was it?" Blanche asked.

"At the time it was accurate," Cohen said.