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.

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has returned to the stand, nine months after he was sentenced to five months in prison for evading more than $1.7 million in taxes on unreported income in the form of company-provided perks.

One day before his sentencing in January, Weisselberg signed a severance agreement with his former employer saying that if he complied with all the conditions of the agreement, he would receive $2 million spread out over two years, according to court records.

One of those conditions, state attorney Louis Solomon highlighted in court, prevented Weisselberg from voluntarily cooperating with an investigation of his former company or boss.

"I didn't give it a lot of thought, to be honest," Weisselberg said when asked about the section of the agreement preventing him from cooperating with investigators.

"Is it just a coincidence that under this severance agreement, you are being paid $2 million, which is coincidentally the exact amount you were ordered to pay under your guilty plea?" Solomon asked.

"Coincidence," Weisselberg replied.

Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney was once pressured by his former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, to use an unrealistic metric to inflate the value of Trump Tower, Birney testified.

Birney testified that he consulted a generic real estate report to determine a 2.67% capitalization rate to measure the value of Trump Tower -- despite an executive at real estate company Cushman and Wakefield recommending a higher rate, which would have decreased Trump Tower's value.

When Weisselberg and Birney discussed the topic in a Trump Tower restroom, Birney said he encouraged the CFO to use a higher, more realistic capitalization rate that would be more sustainable, in order to maintain the building's value in the future, Birney testified.

"I think he said, just use 2.67%," Birney recalled. "I said I am fine using that capitalization rate, but I am worried that if we are only using 2.67, the building is so old, next year there might not be a cap rate as low as 2.67."

The New York attorney general alleges that Weisselberg "systematically rejected" multiple valuations of Trump Tower in 2019 that would have lowered its value between $161 and $224 million.

Court has adjourned for the day, with Birney scheduled to continue his testimony on Monday morning.