Patrick Birney had been working for the Trump Organization for more than two years when a magazine article prompted him to change Trump's financial statement, the executive testified.

"There was an article written that stated that Mr. Trump's triplex was actually 10,900 or so square feet," Birney said, referring to a 2017 Forbes magazine article that alleged Trump had been lying about the size of his residence. (Judge Engoron decided in his partial summary judgment last month that the size was misrepresented.)

Birney, who was an assistant VP at the time, testified that Trump Organization executives, including former CFO Allen Weisselberg, "verified" the size and adjusted the next year's statement of financial condition. As a result, the penthouse was valued at $116 million in 2017 -- a steep drop from the 2016 valuation of $327 million.

Birney testified that he looked up comparable properties to come up with the value of the apartment going forward.

"I Google searched recent penthouse sales in Manhattan," Birney said, eventually landing on an web article about a penthouse purchased by billionaire Ken Griffin that set the record for most expensive home ever sold in the United States.

A price-per-square-foot for Trump's penthouse was determined based on that record-breaking sale, Birney said.

When Birney was tasked with finding comparable properties to value Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, he similarly searched for nearby Palm Beach homes. However, Trump signed a deed in 2002 that limited Mar-a-Lago's purpose to a social club, the New York attorney general alleges, making the price of nearby residences irrelevant.

Asked if he was ever told about the deed by anyone at the Trump Organization, Birney replied, "I don't believe I was." Instead, he said he first learned about it during an "interview with the attorney general's office."

Court then adjourned for the day, with Birney's testimony scheduled to resume tomorrow morning.

Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney testified that CFO Allen Weisselberg and controller Jeffrey McConney had the final say on Trump's financial documents when he worked under them.

"I was not the final decision maker," said Birney, who was an assistant vice president at the time.

Birney joined the Trump Organization in 2015, a few years after he graduated from the University of Michigan. He began helping with Trump's statement of financial condition in 2016 and eventually took over preparing the vital financial document, though he acknowledged in court that he initially lacked some basic knowledge about accounting and finance.

Asked if he ever had valued a property using a capitalization rate, he replied, "I don't think so."

Birney said he would often turn to McConney if he needed specific documents, and that he reviewed drafts of the statement with Weisselberg.

"He would review drafts with me that I would provide him," Birney said. He later added, "Allen Weisselberg had the authority to approve everything."

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has completed his direct examination, although he might be called back to testify by either the attorney general or the defense, Judge Arthur Engoron said.

"I am lifting the prohibition on discussing the case with counsel or anyone else," Engoron said about Weisselberg.

Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney, who as assistant vice president took over managing Trump's statement of financial condition after controller Jeffrey McConney, took the stand following Weisselberg.

Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg, under questioning from state attorney Louis Solomon, addressed the degree to which Donald Trump's three adult children -- Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka -- were involved in the day-to-day running of the Trump Organization during the period from 2011-2022.

"They wanted to get up to speed on how the business was running," Weisselberg said, noting that Trump's run for president accelerated their engagement in the company.

Emails entered into evidence from around that time suggested that the three Trump children requested financial information about the company's operations.

During one email exchange, Weisselberg directly asked Eric Trump to delay paying off a loan related to Trump's Seven Springs estate so it wouldn't affect the former president's cash balance.

"If we have to pay off the loan I would like to do it post June 30th as that is the date of your dad's annual financial statement ... to keep his cash balance as high as possible," the April 2015 email said.

Deutsche Bank decided to stop doing new business with Donald Trump due to the "increased exposure" and "scrutiny" related to his being elected president, according to testimony from Deutsche Bank managing director Rosemary Vrablic.

"It was an unprecedented situation to have a customer who was going to become president of the United States," Vrablic said.

By the time Trump was elected, the bank had made three profitable loans to Trump, making a projected $6.8 million in revenue from Trump in 2014. Vrablic confirmed that by July 2015, Trump had $31 million in cash deposits with the bank, and his associated entities stored $86 million in cash deposits.

However, the scrutiny of Trump's presidency prompted the bank to decide not to increase its exposure, including declining to offer Trump a loan for his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland.

"He was president of the United States -- going to become president of the United States -- and the bank's position was they did not want to increase its exposure at that time," Vrablic testified.