Exiting court during the break, Trump told reporters positioned nearby that the financial statements being reviewed in court included disclaimers, which his legal team has argued absolves him of wrongdoing.

"This case is a scam," Trump said during his walk back to court.

When asked if he would consider testifying, Trump said he might.

An attorney with for the New York attorney general's office spent the first hour of direct examination methodically walking Mazars accountant Donald Bender through the Trump Organization's financial documents from 2012 through 2016.

As he addressed each document, Bender reiterated that the Trump Organization and its trustees were responsible for the accounting principles used in the records, the disclosures in reports, and the information from which the reports were based.

The state appears to be using Bender's testimony to not only get Trump's financials statements into evidence, but also to demonstrate the relatively consistent process the Trump Organization used to compile and finalize their statements of financial condition over a decade.

Justice Arthur Engoron, who was a frequent target of Trump's attacks yesterday, began the trial's second day by clarifying some of his closing remarks about the statute of limitations in the case.

After court yesterday, Trump construed his remarks as a victory, suggesting "80% of the cases is over" after leaving court on Monday.

Engoron apologized for his comments and stated that any future real estate deals "restart" the statute of limitations --- meaning that the attorney general's office needs to "connect the dots" to include the evidence about a 2011 deal discussed on Monday.

"I understand that the defendants strongly disagree on this and will appeal on this ground," Engoron said.

He concluded his remarks by reminding counsel not to relitigate issues already decided -- something that Trump's attorneys seemingly did on Day One of the trial.

"This trial is not an opportunity to relitigate what I have already decided ... that is why we have appeals," Engoron said.

Former President Donald Trump continued his attacks on New York Attorney General Letitia James before entering the courtroom for the second day of his $250 million civil fraud trial in downtown Manhattan.

"She ran on the basis 'I will get Trump' without knowing anything about me," he said to reporters outside court.

Both Trump and James are present this morning in court, where state attorneys are set to continue their direct examination of longtime Mazars accountant Donald Bender.

Donald Trump has lost his appeal to throw out the limited gag orders and associated fines in his civil fraud trial.

In a decision Thursday, New York's Appellate Division, First Department rejected Trump's request to annul and vacate the limited gag orders imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron that prohibit Trump and attorneys from commenting on the judge's staff.

In November, Trump's lawyers asked the Appellate Division to vacate the gag orders, citing a provision of New York state law to personally sue Judge Engoron. But the court said in today's ruling that the method used to appeal the gag orders was an improper application of the law.

"To the extent there may have been appealable issues with respect to any of the procedures the court implemented in imposing the financial sanctions, the proper method of review would be to move to vacate the Contempt Orders, and then to take an appeal from the denial of those motions," the ruling said, indicating that Trump should use the normal appellate process to pursue the vacating of the gag orders.

The court also determined that the "extraordinary remedy" requested by Trump's lawyers did not match the minimal potential harm from barring statements about Engoron's staff.

"Here, the gravity of potential harm is small, given that the Gag Order is narrow, limited to prohibiting solely statements regarding the court's staff," the decision said.