On Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former lawyer and self-described "fixer," Judge Engoron wrote in his ruling that he found the star witness to be a credible witness despite having been convicted of perjury.

"His testimony was significantly compromised by his having pleaded guilty to perjury and by some seeming contradictions in what he said at trial," Engoron wrote. "However, carefully parsed, he testified that although Donald Trump did not expressly direct him to reverse engineer financial statements, he ordered him to do so indirectly, in his 'mob voice.'"

Engoron continued that although the "animosity between the witness and the defendant is palpable, providing Cohen with an incentive to lie, the Court found his testimony credible, based on the relaxed manner in which he testified, the general plausibility of his statements, and, most importantly, the way his testimony was corroborated by other trial evidence."

A "less-forgiving factfinder" might have come to a different conclusion and not believed "a single word of a convicted perjurer," Engoron wrote.

"This factfinder does not believe that pleading guilty to perjury means that you can never tell the truth," he continued. "Michael Cohen told the truth."

Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to lying to Congress about the Russia probe, addressed the passage on social media, writing on X, "Judge Engoron's determination regarding my veracity at the NYAG Trump civil fraud trial. Michael Cohen told the truth!"

Members of the Trump family and their attorneys roundly called the ruling unjust and indicated they plan to appeal.

Eric Trump told ABC News the judgment against him and his family is "a total joke" and "insane." He said the family will immediately appeal the ruling, which he said shows the court and the attorney general in his opinion are "living in an alternate universe."

Donald Trump Jr. accused the case of being politically motivated.

"We've reached the point where your political beliefs combined with what venue your case is heard are the primary determinants of the outcome; not the facts of the case!" he said in a statement to ABC News.

Donald Trump's lawyer, Chris Kise, also claimed the case was an "unjust political crusade" against the leading Republican presidential candidate and that there was no evidence of fraud.

"Hard to imagine a more unfair process and hard to believe this is happening in America," Kise said, adding that the former president "will of course appeal."

Donald Trump's legal spokesperson, Alina Habba, called the verdict a "manifest injustice" and the "culmination of a multi-year, politically fueled witch hunt."

"Countless hours of testimony proved that there was no wrongdoing, no crime, and no victim," Habba said in a statement. "Given the grave stakes, we trust that the Appellate Division will overturn this egregious verdict and end this relentless persecution against my clients."

The Trump Organization also said the ruling was a "gross miscarriage of justice."

"Every member of the New York business community, no matter the industry, should be gravely concerned with this gross overreach and brazen attempt by the Attorney General to exert limitless power where no private or public harm has been established," a spokesperson said in a statement. "If allowed to stand, this ruling will only further expedite the continuing exodus of companies from New York."

Judge Engoron took direct aim at several of the Trumps' core defenses, including Trump's claim that real estate appraisal is imprecise and subjective, and that property valuations reflect nuances in the market that only sophisticated practitioners can understand.

Engoron called that argument a "great red herring in this case."

"True enough, as appraising is an art as well as a science," Engoron wrote. "However, the science part cannot be fraudulent. When two appraisals rely on starkly different assumptions, that is not evidence of a difference of opinion, that is evidence of deceit."

Engoron also undercut a common refrain from defendants' that their accountants were responsible for maintaining above-board business practices.

In a section of his ruling titled, "Blame the Accountants," Engoron wrote that, "There is overwhelming evidence … that the buck for being truthful in the supporting data valuations stopped with the Trump Organization, not the accountants."

Former President Donald Trump's plan to deliver part of his closing argument Thursday, as reported yesterday by ABC News, is now in doubt after he failed to meet a deadline to agree to limitations imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron.

According an email exchange between Engonon and defense counsel that was posted to the public docket Wednesday, Engoron said that Trump would have to follow the case's limited gag order, and that he would not be allowed to "impugn" the New York attorney general or her staff -- limitations that Trump attorney Chris Kise rejected, calling them "untenable."

"The limitations I am imposing, in my absolute discretion, are not subject to further debate. Take it or leave it," Engoron replied on Jan. 9, according to the email thread.

When Trump's lawyers missed the first deadline set by Engoron, the judge determined that Trump could not testify. Kise then responded that he did not see the deadline and requested that the closing arguments be postponed because of the death of Melania Trump's mother on Tuesday.

"I am sad to advise the Court that Mrs. Trump's mother passed away this evening. Because of the challenges presented by this deeply personal family matter, President Trump has asked that I request the Court postpone the date for closing argument," Kise wrote yesterday.

Engoron promptly denied the request and said the closings would continue as planned.

"On balance, going forward makes the most sense. Please tell Mr. Trump that I am sorry," Engoron wrote.

Kise informed Engoron that Trump still planned to attend the closings and speak.

"Despite the fact that his Mother-in Law, who he was very close to, passed away late last night, President Trump will be speaking tomorrow," Kise said in an email this morning.

When Engoron asked for assurance that Trump agreed to his rules, Kise pushed back, writing, "You are not allowing President Trump, who has been wrongfully demeaned and belittled by an out of control, politically motivated Attorney General, to speak about the things that must be spoken about."

"I won't debate this yet again. Take it or leave it. Now or never. You have until noon, seven minutes from now. I WILL NOT GRANT ANY FURTHER EXTENSIONS," Engoron replied at 11:54 a.m.

After Kise failed to respond, Engoron emailed him at 12:12 p.m. that he assumed Trump would not be speaking and that their email exchange would be posted to the court's public docket.

Responding to the development, Trump's legal spokesperson, Alina Habba, said in a statement to ABC News: "Is anyone surprised anymore?"