“I don’t see how a lack of retainer agreement would be a falsification of records on the part of the client who made a verbal agreement to a monthly fee.”
You miss the main point. Cohen, Attorney #1, is Bragg’s star witness.
Bragg’s star witness is a convicted perjurer, advantage of the he said/he said should go to the defendant.
But there also needs to be an intent to defraud. A dispute over the presence of a retainer is not fraud. Bragg is claiming the underlying crime of fraud is breaking campaign laws by supressing harmful information. But that is not a crime, that’s politics!