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

Trump attorney Alina Habba began her cross-examination by having Michael Cohen recount the criminal acts related to his 2018 guilty plea.

"Mr. Cohen, what did you respond?" Habba asked while reading a transcript from his 2018 plea proceeding.

"Guilty, your honor," Cohen said aloud in court.

Habba also read from a sentencing memorandum related to Cohen's plea in which prosecutors wrote that Cohen's crimes "were marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life."

When Habba asked if Cohen lied to his wife about evading taxes, Cohen responded by saying "objection" and attempting to cite legal precedent.

"You can't object. It's a yes or no question," Habba said.

"He is a serial liar, and he lied to his wife," defense lawyer Chris Kise told the judge about why the question is relevant. He later added, "This witness is completely out of control."

Following the conclusion of the state's direct examination of Michael Cohen, Trump attorney Alina Habba has begun what is expected to be a lengthy cross-examination.

“You understand what 'under oath' means?” Habba asked Cohen at the start of her cross-examination.

“Yes,” Cohen said, after which Habba began to describe Cohen’s previous criminal conduct.

When Donald Trump attempted to bid for the Buffalo Bills football team in 2014, he claimed that his net worth was "in excess of eight billion dollars," according to a document entered evidence during Michael Cohen's testimony.

To support the bid, Trump's frequent lender Deutsche Bank sent a letter to Morgan Stanley to demonstrate that Trump had the "financial wherewithal" to support his bid, according to Cohen.

The New York attorney general alleges that Trump used his inflated financial statement to convince Deutsche Bank to support Trump's financial strength.

The line of questioning prompted strong objections from Trump lawyer Chris Kise, who argued that the bid for the Buffalo Bills is not related to any of the attorney general's causes of action.

"I think this is arguably false, particularly the eight billion dollars ... and this shows a pattern of practice of fraud," Judge Engoron said when overruling the objection.

Donald Trump used his inflated financial statements to convince journalists about his net worth, to lower his insurance premiums, and even to support his bid to purchase the Buffalo Bills football team, according to Michael Cohen.

Cohen described how the Trump Organization would grant external parties only limited access to the documents themselves, often presenting them during video calls -- rather than handing out the document for external parties to keep -- in the process of demonstrating Trump's net worth.

For example, Cohen described using the documents in a meeting with a journalist from real estate news site "The Real Deal" to "create the story about how much Trump was actually worth," Cohen said.

According to Cohen, Trump Organization executives used Trump's financial statements in meetings with insurance companies to obtain lower premiums, and Trump would occasionally attend these meetings to help move the process along.

"About three quarters of the way through the meeting, Mr. Trump would then come in, and there would be an extended conversion about his net worth, and that he was richer than the insurance companies," Cohen testified, adding that Trump's drop-in to the meeting was pre-planned.

Trump's financial statement also proved vital when Trump attempted to get a line of credit for a 2014 bid to purchase the Buffalo Bills, according to Cohen.

"We can all agree that Mr. Trump never owned the Buffalo Bills," Judge Engoron remarked.