"It's a paper case," defense attorney Todd Blanche says. "This case is not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago. An encounter that President Trump has unequivocally and repeatedly denied ever occurred. It's not even about a settlement in 2016," Blanche said.

"The bookings were accurate. And there was absolutely no intent to defraud," he said. "And beyond that, there was no conspiracy to influence the 2016 election."

Starting a PowerPoint showing the evidence, Blanche quickly seeks to made the case a referendum on the credibility of Michael Cohen, telling jurors he lied on the witness stand.

"You cannot convict President Trump of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt on the words of Michael Cohen," Blanche said.

"He told you a number of things on that witness stand that were lies, pure and simple," Blanche continued.

"The words that Michael Cohen said to you on that stand -- they matter. He took an oath, he swore to tell the truth, and he told you a number of things on that witness stand that were lies, pure and simple," Blanche said.

"I'm going to start with something I can say i think with confidence … which is just to thank you. To thank you for your jury service," defense attorney Todd Blanche told jurors to begin his closing argument.

"Each of you will decide ... whether President Trump is guilty or not guilty," he said.

All eyes in this courtroom are on Blanche. Every member of Trump's family is looking at him. The jurors are staring at him, many with pens in their hands ready to take notes.

"President Trump is innocent," Blanche said. "He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof. Period."

Defense counsel Todd Blanche says he has a 2.5-hour closing, "maybe a little longer."

Prosecutors say they estimate they have a 4 or 4.5-hour closing.

“Defense counsel must come up first, and the prosecutor must follow,” Judge Merchan said.

Merchan says he will ask the jury if they will work later than 4:30 p.m. to do all the closings in one day.

Judge Juan Merchan has taken his seat at the bench.

"Good morning, counsel. Good morning, Mr. Trump," Merchan said in his normal greeting to start the proceedings.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche continued to argue that the jury cannot trust Cohen's testimony as a whole based on the misstatements they highlighted.

"We happened to catch him in a lie," Blanche said. "We put them into evidence, and now you know it happened."

Blanche argued that the lie highlighted that Cohen didn't care about his oath to tell the truth.

"For that we have an oath, we have an oath that every witness takes when they testify before you the jury. It matters -- the oath matters to most. He lied," Blanche said, as the jury watched attentively.

Blanche told the jury that Michael Cohen lied to his banker, his family, his wife, every single reporter he speaks to, prosecutors, and federal judges.

"He lied to you, make no mistake about it," said Blanche.

"He's literally like an MVP of liars," Blanche said of Cohen.