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.

When Mazars USA said that Trump's financial statements were no longer reliable in 2022, the accounting firm did not conduct an audit or identify any "material discrepancies" in Trump's statements, Mazars General Counsel Bill Kelly testified.

"As we have stated in the Statements of Financial Condition, Mazars performed its work in accordance with professional standards. A subsequent review of those workpapers confirms this," Kelly wrote in a 2022 letter to the Trump Organization entered into evidence.

Both Trump and his lawyer Jesus Suarez seized on the admission from Mazars.

During cross examination, Suarez displayed multiple financial statements and repeatedly asked Kelly about the lack of discrepancies identified in the statements. Exiting court for a break, Trump also focused on that portion of the testimony.

"They found no discrepancies, there was nothing wrong with the financials," Trump said, alleging that his former accountants were "abused" and "hurt very badly" by the New York attorney general.

Trump's accounting firm resigned from engagements with the Trump Organization in 2021 after learning it could no longer rely on former CFO Allen Weisselberg, Mazars USA General Counsel Bill Kelly testified.

The next year, Mazars determined that Trump's statements could no longer be relied upon following a filing related to New York Attorney General Letitia James' investigation of the Trump Organization.

"When the NYAG filed a paper in court, you took them at their word and never once conferred with your client?" defense attorney Jesus Suarez asked during his cross examination of Kelly, adding that Trump paid Mazars millions before their relationship ended.

"You just kicked them to the curb, right?" Suarez added, alleging that Mazars tried to "curry favor" to avoid legal problems with authorities.

"We did not kick them to the curb," Kelly responded.

The cross examination of Kelly appeared to test the patience of Judge Engoron, who interrupted the questioning twice.

"That has been asked about five times already," Engoron said at one point. At a later point, he added, "Asked and answered many times. Yes, they were paid."

State attorney Kevin Wallace concluded his direct examination of the New York attorney general's second and final rebuttal witness amid frequent objections by defense lawyers.

Lewis attempted to explain how Donald Trump's statements of financial condition failed to disclose that he did not conduct a discounted cash flow analysis, contributing to the over-valuation of some of his assets.

"There is no mention of discounting or future value in the disclosure," Lewis said, disagreeing with testimony from defense expert Jason Flemmons -- as well as former Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender, who testified as a state witness.

“Are you impeaching your own witness?” Engoron asked state attorneys regarding whether Bender’s testimony should no longer be considered credible.

"We didn't feel the need to," Wallace responded.

Lewis also suggested that Trump's external accountants at Mazars had less of an obligation to highlight issues that Flemmons suggested, since they were only conducting a compilation report rather than a more intensive audit. While Mazars had an obligation to flag obvious issues, they were not responsible for ensuring Trump's statements were compliant with generally accepted accounting principles, he testified.

"If while doing the compilation ... something comes to the attention of the accounts that could be a GAAP departure, they have a responsibility to bring that issue to the client," Lewis said regarding generally accepted accounting principles.

During the hour-long direct examination, defense lawyers objected at least 14 times, successfully interrupting the line of questions.

"I am lost," Engoron asked at one point. "Can you put this together?"

The parade of objections visibly irritating Wallace, who voiced his displeasure.

"Petulant outbursts don't really play well in the courtroom," quipped Trump lawyer Chris Kise in response.