The judge recessed court briefly for the mid-morning break.

Trump, exiting the courtroom, patted his daughter Tiffany as he passed her and she gave him a big smile.

Meanwhile, outside the courthouse this morning, actor Robert De Niro and two former Capitol police officers slammed Trump at a campaign news conference for President Joe Biden.

De Niro, a lower Manhattan resident, was accompanied by former Capitol police officers Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn, both of whom were working at the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche told jurors that while both Trump and Stormy Daniels denied the affair, the allegations came back in 2016 so Daniels and others could extort Trump.

"There were a group of people that wanted to take advantage of a situation and ultimately wanted to extort money from President Trump," Blanche said.

Blanche argued that Daniels' claim of a sexual tryst with Trump was known in 2011, so the hush payment could not have been meant to influence an election five years later.

"The idea that when Ms. Daniels surfaced in 2016 that it caused some sort of panic amongst everybody is not true. It's just not true," Blanche said.

Blanche hesitantly used the word extortion in his opening statement to describe the Daniels payment -- calling it "almost an attempt ... to extort" -- but the defense appears to have leaned into the argument in their closing.

Blanche also suggested that Trump may not have known about the Daniels payment at the time, telling jurors they only have Michael Cohen to rely on for that evidence.

"There's no way that you can find that President Trump knew about this payment at the time it was made without believing Michael Cohen. Period," Blanche said. "And you cannot believe his words."

Continuing with his attack on Michael Cohen's recording of the 2016 meeting with Trump, defense attorney Todd Blanche cast doubt on Cohen's contention that Trump was going to repay AMI for the Karen McDougal payment in cash -- meaning bills.

"Cash just means no financing," Blanche said. "It doesn't mean you are going into the closing with a duffel bag full of green."

According to Blanche, Cohen tried to mislead the jury by suggesting Trump wanted to pay in cash.

"That was Mr. Cohen lying to you, painting a picture that fits his narrative, not the truth," Blanche said.

"There's no scenario under which there has been any testimony at this trial that Mr. Trump was going to walk around with a duffel bag full of $150,000 in cash."

Addressing why the recording cut off, Blanche said when Trump says "check" it was the beginning of a new sentence -- not about writing a check -- before it cuts off.

"It's clearly talking about a beginning of a sentence that we will never know," Blanche said.

"So you have a lawyer recording his client," defense attorney Todd Blanche said of Michael Cohen's 2016 recording of a meeting with Trump.

"There is a lot of dispute about that recording. A lot," Blanche said. "The government has not shown you that that evidence is reliable."

Blanche again played the recording for the jury.

Blanche said Trump never said the words "150" about McDougal in the call, disputing what the transcript prosecutors made says.

"Listen to the recording, see if you hear 150," Blanche said. "There is a lot of doubt that it discussed Karen McDougal."

"What did you just hear? 'Transfer of all the stuff'," Blanche said, saying that was actually about a box of stuff related to Trump that was at the National Enquirer offices.

Trump, at the defense table, appears fully engaged, with one arm propped on the back of his chair, looking directly at Blanche's back.

Judge Merchan told the jury that they have the ultimate authority in determining the truthfulness of a witness' testimony -- an instruction that might come in handy given the emphasis that defense lawyers placed on Michael Cohen's testimony, which they say includes lies.

"You will alone determine the truthfully and the accuracy of the testimony of each witness," Merchan said.

He added that the jury could either disregard the testimony of an untruthful witness entirely, or disregard part of it.

"There is no particular formula" to determine credibility, Merchan said.

"You may consider whether the witness has any interest in the outcome of the case," he said -- another matter that might weigh on jurors' minds.

"You may consider whether a witness did have, or did not have, a motive to lie," the judge said.

Trump's attorney had told the jury Cohen had an "axe to grind" against his former boss. Prosecutors partially conceded that Cohen had a motive, acknowledging that, to date, he is the only one who suffered any consequences from the matter at hand.

Trump, at the defense table, appeared to look over to the jury and offer a bit of a closed-mouth grin.