NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Donald Trump鈥檚 lawyers and Manhattan prosecutors made their final pitches Tuesday to jurors who will decide whether the Republican will be the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime, squaring off over the strength of the evidence and credibility of the prosecution鈥檚 star witness as his hush money trial drew toward a close.

After listening to more than four weeks of testimony, the panel of New Yorkers sat attentively through a marathon of closing arguments 鈥 almost three hours from the defense and roughly five from the prosecution 鈥 that stretched from morning until dinner time.

The jury could begin deliberating as early as Wednesday to decide if Trump is to cover up hush money payments during the 2016 presidential campaign to a porn actor who claimed she had sex with him. Trump says Stormy Daniels鈥 story is a lie and that he鈥檚 innocent of the charges. The judge is expected to give jurors instructions on Wednesday before they begin deliberating.

Here are some takeaways from closing arguments:

ALL ABOUT MICHAEL COHEN

Trump attorney Todd Blanche had a clear message for jurors: The prosecution's case rests on the , and he can鈥檛 be believed. Cohen is a crucial witness because he made the $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels and the reimbursements to Cohen are what prosecutors say were falsely logged as legal expenses.

As the defense has done throughout the case, Blanche attacked Cohen as a liar with a personal vendetta against his former boss. While Blanche tried to chip away at Cohen's credibility, the defense showed jurors a PowerPoint slide that read: 鈥淐ase Turns on Cohen.鈥

Blanche repeatedly reminded jurors of Cohen's past lies, including his . And the defense played for jurors clips of Cohen鈥檚 podcast in which the now-disbarred attorney said seeing the former president booked on criminal charges 鈥渇ills me with delight.鈥

The case against Trump is built around testimony from 鈥渁 witness that outright hates the defendant, wants him in jail, is actively making money off that hatred,鈥 Blanche said.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass acknowledged that . But prosecutors did not choose him, Trump did, Steinglass said.

鈥淭he defendant chose Michael Cohen to be his fixer because he was willing to lie and cheat on the defendant鈥檚 behalf," Steinglass said. Furthermore, he said, there is 鈥渁 mountain" of evidence and corroborating testimony connecting Trump to the crime.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not about whether you like Michael Cohen. It鈥檚 not about whether you want to go into business with Michael Cohen. It鈥檚 whether he has useful, reliable information to give you about what went down in this case, and the truth is that he was in the best position to know,鈥 the prosecutor said.

鈥楢 CONSPIRACY AND A COVER-UP鈥

The prosecutor used his closing argument to bring jurors back to what District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office alleges is the crux of the case: a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by keeping Daniels' story from surfacing. The case 鈥渁t its core, is about a conspiracy and a cover-up," Steinglass said.

The purpose of the effort, Steinglass argued, was 鈥渢o manipulate and defraud the voters, to pull the wool over their eyes in a coordinated fashion.鈥 It鈥檚 impossible to know whether Trump鈥檚 effort to 鈥渉oodwink voters鈥 made a difference in the 2016 election, Steinglass said, but that鈥檚 not something prosecutors have to prove.

Steinglass pushed back against the defense's contention that the former president was trying to protect his reputation and family 鈥 not his campaign 鈥 by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life. It's 鈥渘o coincidence鈥 that Daniel鈥檚 alleged sexual encounter with Trump happened in 2006 but she wasn't paid for her silence until right before the 2016 election, Steinglass said.

The defense, meanwhile, told jurors that 鈥渆very campaign in this country is a conspiracy to promote a candidate, a group of people who are working together to help somebody win." Trump鈥檚 alleged efforts to suppress negative stories were no different, Blanche said.

鈥淭he government wants you to believe that President Trump did these things with his records to conceal efforts to promote his successful candidacy in 2016, the year before,鈥 Blanche said. 鈥淓ven if you find that is true, that is not enough...it doesn鈥檛 matter if there鈥檚 a conspiracy to win an election."

CAMPAIGN COMES TO THE COURTHOUSE

Outside the courthouse, there were dueling press conferences from the Trump and Biden campaigns, which sought to capitalize on the gathering of reporters and cameras to attack their respective opponents and score political points.

While the defense was delivering its closing argument, the Biden campaign actor Robert De Niro and a pair of police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It was a sharp about-face for Biden鈥檚 team, which had largely ignored the trial since it began six weeks ago.

De Niro and the officers didn鈥檛 reference Trump's criminal case directly, but slammed the former president as a threat to the country. De Niro told reporters that if Trump returns to the White House, Americans can 鈥渒iss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted."

Trump鈥檚 campaign staffers followed with their own news conference at the same spot. Jason Miller, Trump鈥檚 senior campaign adviser, told reporters the Biden campaign's press event shows that the trial is political.

鈥淎fter months of saying politics had nothing to do with this trial, they showed up and made a campaign event out of a lower Manhattan trial day for President Trump,鈥 Miller said. Karoline Leavitt, the campaign press secretary, said the event was 鈥渁 full blown concession that this trial is a witch hunt that comes from the top.鈥

POLITICIZED LANGUAGE

The defense repeatedly referred to the prosecution as 鈥渢he government.鈥 The prosecution invoked the phrase 鈥渂ig lie.鈥 Closing arguments on both sides were peppered with words and phrases that have become politicized.

Blanche called the prosecution 鈥渢he government鈥 鈥 a term typically used for federal prosecutors, not the state-level team trying Trump鈥檚 case. In New York, state prosecutors are typically referred to in court as 鈥渢he people,鈥 short for 鈥渢he people of the State of New York.鈥

Trump鈥檚 two main attorneys are former federal prosecutors who are used to arguing in federal courtrooms. But Trump has also been trying to cast the case 鈥 and the separate federal cases brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith 鈥 as a politically motivated effort by President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration to tank Trump鈥檚 campaign.

The hush money case was filed by local prosecutors in Manhattan who do not work for the Justice Department, and the Justice Department has said the White House has had no involvement in the two Trump cases brought by Smith.

But by referring to the prosecution as the 鈥済overnment,鈥 the defense is evoking images of the 鈥渄eep state鈥 conspiracies that Trump claims are aimed at putting him behind bars and preventing him from retaking the White House.

Steinglass, in his closing argument, used the phrase 鈥渂ig lie鈥 to describe the defense鈥檚 characterization of phone and text message records between Cohen and Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller. Democrats have used that phrase to describe Trump鈥檚 false claims that he won the 2020 election, which helped spur his supporters鈥 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

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Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Michelle L. Price in New York and Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed.

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