Prosecutor Josh Steinglass took aim at the defense assertion that Stormy Daniels was out to extort Donald Trump.

"Maybe you think it's a sordid practice," he said. "In the end it doesn't really matter because you don't get to commit election fraud or falsify business records because you believe you have been victimized."

Steinglass told the jurors that many of the witnesses they heard from are Trump friends or fans.

"Pecker has no reason to lie here," he said, speaking of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. "He still considers Donald Trump a friend and mentor, and still his testimony is utterly devastating."

"These people like the defendant," Steinglass said. "If anything, they have incentive to skew the testimony" in a way that will help him.

Assistant district attorney Josh Steinglass began his closing argument by quoting the People's opening.

"This case, at its core, is about a conspiracy and a coverup, a conspiracy to corrupt the 2016 election and a coverup to hide that conspiracy," Steinglass said.

"We asked you to remember to tune out the noise and to ignore the sideshows. And if you've done that ... you will see the People have presented powerful evidence of the defendants guilt," he said.

Steinglass pushed back on the defense's suggestion that prosecutors manipulated evidence.

"There is nothing sinister here -- no manipulation," Steinglass said.

Steinglass argued that it was defense lawyers manipulated who the evidence in a phone summary chart showing calls between Michael Cohen and his onetime legal adviser Bob Costello, saying that defense lawyers were provided Cohen's full phone extraction if they believed evidence was manipulated.

Following the lunch break, the parties returned to the courtroom ahead of their closing argument.

Judge Merchan began the afternoon session by asking prosecutors about the curative instruction following defense attorney Todd Blanche's mention of prison at the end of his closing argument.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger told Merchan that Blanche's mention of prison time was "highly improper" and a direct violation of a pretrial order about arguments related to potential punishments.

"Mr. Blanche was certainly on notice that this was an improper argument," Hoffinger said.

Blanche did not opposed to the curative instruction about his earlier arguments. Merchan will deliver it to the jury as drafted by prosecutors.

Before Judge Merchan recessed court for the lunch break, prosecutors took issue with defense attorney Todd Blanche saying "You cannot send someone to prison based upon the words of Michael Cohen."

Prosecutors called Blanche's reference to prison "ridiculous" and an effort to gain sympathy for their client.

"I think that saying that was outrageous, Mr. Blanche," Merchan told Blanche. "It is simply not allowed, period."

The judge said he would give the jury curative instructions.

"Its hard for me to imagine how that was accidental in any way," Merchan said.

The parties then left the courtroom for the break. Blanche left the courtroom smiling as another member of the legal team gave him a big pat on the back.

Prosecutor Josh Steinglass argued that Trump's catch-and-kill arrangement with the National Enquirer was a "subversion of democracy."

Steinglass pushed back against defense attorney Todd Blanche's argument in his closing that Trump's agreement with Enquirer parent AMI was democracy at work. During his opening statement, Blanche said, "I have a spoiler alert. There is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It's called democracy."

"In reality, this agreement at Trump Tower was the exact opposite. It was the subversion of democracy," Steinglass said, arguing that it was an attempt "to pull the wool over [voter's] eyes in a coordinated fashion" and that it was meant to "manipulate and defraud the voters."

Referenceing the Trump Tower meeting in 2015, Steinglass said, "This scheme cooked up by these men at this time, could very well be what got President Trump elected."

"It turned out to be one of the most valuable contributions anyone ever made to Trump," he argued.