Trump Trial Hears Closing Arguments Ahead Of Jury Deliberations In 'Hush Money' Case

Jurors slogged through about eight hours of closing arguments in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Tuesday, with lawyers from both sides making their final cases before the jury begins deliberating whether Trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying of business records.

Trump's lead attorney Todd Blanche argued that Michael Cohen, the prosecution's key witness, was the "greatest liar of all time" and acted alone when he paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016 for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. Blanche told jurors they could not find Trump guilty based on Cohen's testimony and said there were plenty of other reasons to doubt prosecutors' narrative of the case.

Trump is accused of signing off on the scheme to falsify records to cover up the "hush money" payment. Prosecutors say the plan was designed to subvert election law and keep the payment secret. They allege Trump falsely portrayed reimbursements for the $130,000 payment as monthly checks for Cohen's ongoing legal services, paid over the course of the first year of his presidency. Trump has pleaded not guilty, and his defense argued the checks and associated records were accurate.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass presented the closing arguments for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. He defended Cohen's credibility and said his testimony lines up with a voluminous record of text messages, emails and call records shown at trial. He urged the jury to hold Trump accountable.

"The name of the game was concealment, and all roads lead inescapably to the man who benefited most, the defendant, a man named Donald J. Trump," Steinglass said.

The court will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday when Justice Juan Merchan will deliver crucial instructions to the jury explaining the various legal issues they must sort through when reaching a verdict. That process is expected to take about an hour, at which point Trump's fate will be in the jury's hands.

Click here for an overview of the trial so far: https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-trial-closing-arguments-today/