BREAKING: Trump's defense argues Stormy Daniels 'saw her chance' to make money off alleged affair in lead up to 2016 election

The defense in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's falsified business records case against Donald Trump delivered their opening statements late Monday morning, alleging that Trump did not know about the invoices at the center of the case, and that Stormy Daniels "she saw her chance" to make money off Trump leading up to the 2016 election. 

Opening up the defense’s opening statement, Trump attorney Todd Blanche said, "President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes." 

"The Manhattan district attorney's office should never have brought this case," he added, according to ABC News. Blanche added, "You will hear me and others refer to him as President Trump. That is a title he has earned because he was our 45th President." 

"Donald Trump is "not just our former president, he's not just Donald Trump that you've seen on TV," he said. "He's also a man. He's a husband. He's a father." 

Noting the alleged $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, Blanche said that Trump paid Cohen a total of $420,000. He asked why Trump would overpay that amount if he was a frugal businessman as the prosecution said. 

"Ask yourself, would a frugal businessman, a man who pinched his pennies, repay a $130,000 debt to the tune of $420,000," he asked. 

None of this was a crime," Blanche said, adding that the 34 counts against Trump "are really just 34 pieces of paper." He reiterated that Cohen was, in fact, an attorney for Trump and was doing legal work for him. He noted that Cohen’s email signature said he was Trump’s attorney. 

Regarding the prosecution’s opening statement alleging election fraud, Blanche said, "I have a spoiler alert. There is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It's called democracy." 

Blanche argued that Bragg’s prosecution team had attempted to make the payment and nondisclosure agreements between Trump and Stormy Daniels "sinister" to the jury.  

"There is nothing illegal about entering into a non-disclosure agreement. Period," Blanche said after a pause in the opening statement after the prosecution objected to a portion of Blanche’s opening statement. A portion of his statement was struck from the record, ABC News reported. 

Blanche said that Trump was unaware of how the invoices were processed by his employees, saying that the Trump Organization was not running the invoices by him as he was "running the country." 

"Hey, we got this invoice. I know we are trying to cover it up here," Blanche said, laying out how this hypothetically would have gone about. "Absolutely not." 

"President Trump has nothing to do -- nothing to do -- with the invoice, with the check being generated, or with the entry on the ledger," he said, adding that Trump was busy "in the White House while he was running the country." 

"The reality is that President Trump is not on the hook -- criminally responsible -- for something Michael Cohen might have done years after the fact. The evidence will prove otherwise," Blanche said. 

In regard to Daniels, legal name Stephanie Clifford, Blanche said she is "biased against President Trump," according to NBC News. 

He said that Trump met her in 2006 while he was running the TV show "The Apprentice" and was looking for contestants. 

Blanche claimed, "leading up to the 2016 election she saw her chance," referring to Daniels, and added that she "made a life" off her communications despite publicly denying the affair with Trump, according to CNN. 

Blanche said that Daniels owes Trump around $600,000 because of failed legal attempts against him. 

"She also wrote a book. She was paid for a documentary," Blanche said of Daniels. 

He said that Daniels "has no idea" about the business records at the center of the case. "Her testimony, while salacious, does not matter," he said. 

Blanche also took aim at Cohen, saying, "He has a goal, an obsession, with getting Trump. I submit to you he cannot be trusted."