Pressing Mazars USA accountant Donald Bender on how often he asked the Trump Organization for appraisals of the former president's assets during the years he worked on Trump's account, defense lawyers attempted to portray Bender as neglecting to do his job compiling Trump's financial reports.

"I didn't know that the Trump Organization had any access to appraisals they did not give me," Bender testified.

The longtime Trump accountant struggled to articulate how often he made requests for appraisals, and defense counsel Clifford Robert drilled into the fact that those requests appear to never have been made in writing to Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney.

"You don't really know what you asked Jeff McConney," Robert told Bender.

Bender was also asked about Trump's three adult children, who all previously served as executives in the Trump Organization, and whether they were involved with Trump's statement of financial condition.

The accountant said that -- apart from a brief conversation he once had with Eric Trump -- Eric, Don Jr. and Ivanka Trump were not involved in issuing Trump's financial statements.

On redirect examination, state attorneys briefly asked questions of Bender suggesting that the defense's questions had been based on an outdated accounting standard.

That concluded Bender's testimony.

Trump attorney Jesus Suarez, in his cross-examination of longtime Trump accountant Donald Bender, is attempting to ask Bender about each year's compilation of Trump's statement of financial condition.

In response, facing the possibility of hours of repetitive questions, Judge Engoron said he would limit Suarez to an hour and a half of cross-examination.

Defense lawyer Clifford Robert is also expected to question Bender.

The defense's cross-examination of longtime Trump accountant Donald Bender has resumed.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is attending court today, but Eric Trump of the Trump Organization is absent from the gallery.

When Donald Trump attended over the first three days of the trial, the gallery was packed -- but without him in attendance, it's now roughly half full.

The trial resumes this morning for its first full day of action without the presence of former President Trump, who returned to Florida yesterday after attending the trial's first three days.

With 26 witnesses yet to testify for the state, today is likely to provide an indication of the trial's duration, which Judge Engoron scheduled to take three months.

Longtime Trump accountant Donald Bender of Mazars USA is back on the stand for more cross-examination from defense lawyer Jesus Suarez, who has been walking Bender though years of financial statements in an attempt to paint him as asleep of the wheel while handling Trump's accounting.

If Bender gets off the stand today, the state will next call longtime Trump Organization comptroller Jeffrey McConney, who is a defendant in the case itself.

Eric Trump, the heir apparent to the Trump Organization, could face particularly high stakes on the stand.

Gaining power in his family's firm once his father became U.S. president, Eric Trump is responsible for "all aspects of management and operation of the Trump Organization," according to New York Attorney General Letitia James.

While his brother Donald Trump Jr. was sparsely mentioned by witnesses during the first five weeks of the trial, Eric Trump was described by witnesses as involved in the day-to-day operations of the company, as well as leading projects for multiple properties that were allegedly inflated in his father's statements of financial condition.

Unlike his brother Donald Trump Jr. -- who certified those statements between 2016 and 2021 -- Eric Trump is alleged to have signed "several guarantor compliance certificates" for his father, that relied on the financial statements.

"I've done a lot to jog my memory and I simply can't, because I don't think I've had any involvement in the statement of financial condition, to the best of my knowledge," Eric Trump said during the deposition he gave in the course of the AG's investigation.

As part of the penalty she is seeking, James has requested that the court bar Eric Trump -- as well as his brother and father -- from serving as an officer in any New York State corporation or business entity.