Trump civil fraud case: Judge fines Trump $354M, says frauds 'shock the conscience'

Minutes after Michael Cohen alleged he was tasked with reverse engineering Trump Organization financial statements, Donald Trump continued his attacks on his former lawyer while exiting the courtroom during a break in the trial.

"His record is a horrible one. All you have to do is ask the Southern District of New York," Trump said in reference to Cohen's 2018 guilty plea on charges related to his role in making hush payments to two woman who claimed to have long-denied affairs with Trump.

"He is not a credible witness," Trump said.

During Cohen's testimony, Trump also took to social media to post flattering quotes Cohen gave to news outlets about Trump in 2011 and 2016.

"He's more like a patriarch, a mentor. These qualities make him very endearing to me, which is why I am so fiercely loyal to him and committed to protecting him at all costs," Cohen told the New York Times in 2016 -- which was posted by Trump on Truth Social minutes after Cohen began his testimony.

The former president told reporters he wasn't concerned about Cohen being on the stand.

"We're not worried at all about his testimony," Trump said.

Cohen, exiting court separately during the break, quipped that seeing Trump again after five years was a "heck of a reunion."

Michael Cohen, under questioning from state attorneys, testified it was his job to help Trump look as rich as he wanted to.

"I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected, and my responsibility -- along with Allen Weisselberg -- predominantly was to reverse engineer the various different asset classes, increase those assets in order to achieve the number that Mr. Trump had tasked us with," Cohen said, referring to former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.

Cohen joined the Trump Organization in 2007 as executive vice president and special counsel to Trump, putting him "directly under Mr. Trump" in the corporate hierarchy, Cohen said.

"I reported and only handled work for Mr. Trump and so I was his special counsel. Whatever issues he had, whatever created ire for him, he would bring it to me to resolve," Cohen said.

"So the only person who asked you to perform work was Donald J. Trump?" state attorney Colleen Faherty asked.

"Correct," Cohen responded.

Cohen affirmed his involvement in preparing Trump's statements of financial condition and told the judge those documents were "shared with third parties," including insurance brokers.

Michael Cohen, hunched slightly on the witness stand, began his testimony by outlining the federal charges to which he pleaded guilty and served prison time -- including tax evasion and lying to Congress -- as Trump leaned back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest.

Once Trump's self-described bulldog, Cohen has not shared a room with Trump in five years, he said prior to his testimony.

As he recounted his criminal history, Cohen invoked the names of Stormy Daniels and Karen MacDougal, two women who in 2016 were paid to keep quiet about long-denied affairs with Trump. Defense attorney Chris Kise moved to strike the answer but the judge overruled the objection.

Colleen Faherty, an attorney with the state attorney general's office, asked Cohen if his crimes occurred while he was employed by Trump, to which Cohen responded "Yes" and affirmed his employer was "Donald J. Trump."

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has begun his testimony in his former boss' civil fraud trial.

Sitting at a cramped counsel table between his lawyers, Trump is about ten feet from his former lawyer and so-called "fixer."

The courtroom itself is at capacity, with attendance appearing to exceed the number of observers during the trial's opening statements.