Michael Cohen testifies in Trump's civil fraud trial

Former US president Donald Trump and his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen hadn't seen each other in five years until Tuesday, when Cohen testified in a New York courtroom in Trump's $250 million civil fraud trial.

Cohen's testimony directly implicated Trump in the inflation of asset valuations to reflect a higher net worth Trump would want to report. Under questioning from New York state attorneys, Cohen testified it was his job to help Trump look as rich as he wanted to.

"It was my experience that Mr. Trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in Forbes and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes," Cohen testified.

Looking at Trump's 2012 statement of financial condition, Cohen said he recalled inflating assets including Trump Tower, Trump World Tower at the United Nations Plaza, the Miss Universe pageants and "possibly others".

Cohen testified that he and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg would manipulate the statements of financial conditions, the documents at the center of the civil fraud trial, based on what Trump wanted his net worth to reflect.

"He would look at the total assets and he would say, 'I'm actually not worth $4.5 billion; I'm really worth more like six.' He would then direct Allen and I to go back to Allen's office and return after we achieved the desired goal," Cohen said.

The net worth amount they would back into on the statements was "whatever number Mr. Trump told us to", Cohen said.

Weisselberg testified earlier at trial that he didn't remember any meetings with Cohen and Trump to discuss Trump's net worth or financial statements. "I don't believe it ever happened, no," the former CFO testified.

Cohen is a key figure in New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit alleging that Trump and his company duped banks, insurers and others by giving them financial statements that inflated his wealth. Trump denies James' allegations.

The lawsuit that James filed a year ago seeks $250 million in financial penalties, plus strict limitations on the company and its executives conducting any business in New York.

Judge Arthur Engoron already has ruled that Trump and his company committed fraud. The trial involves remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. His lawyers have made it clear that they will appeal key rulings by Engoron, who will decide the case. There is no jury. The lawyers have argued that valuations are subjective and that others were to blame.

Trump says his assets were undervalued and he maintains that disclaimers on his financial statements essentially told recipients to check the numbers out for themselves.

Trump argues that the case is part of an effort by James and other Democrats to drag down his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. He has called the case a "sham," a "scam" and "a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time".

Trump has attended the trial for a sixth day this month.

Cohen previously pleaded guilty for nine federal crimes, including tax fraud, lying to Congress and campaign-finance violations for helping pay off two women who threatened to go public with past alleged affairs with Trump just before the 2016 election. Trump has denied the affairs.

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, was ordered to pay $1.39 million in restitution, forfeited $500,000, and was fined $100,000. He spent more than 13 months in federal prison before completing his sentence on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before Cohen reported to prison in 2019, his testimony before the House Oversight Committee sparked James' investigation into Trump's finances.

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.

Media reports said Trump didn't react when Cohen raised the hush-money payments and stared straight ahead at Cohen. Trump at times whispered to his lawyers. At other points, the former president hunched forward in his seat, watching intently, or leaned back with crossed arms. Cohen looked away from his former employer, keeping his eyes on state lawyer Colleen Faherty.

"He's a proven liar," Trump said of Cohen as the ex-president entered the courtroom. "He's a felon. He has served a lot of time for lying, and we're just going to go in and see."

And as he left the courtroom for a lunch break, Trump said, "He (Cohen) has a horrible record. It's not going to end up very good for him. We're not worried at all about his testimony."

Cohen, while walking out for the lunch break, told reporters that his appearance is a "heck of a reunion".

Agencies contributed to this story.