New York Attorney General Letitia James is attending the civil trial this morning.

After greeting the press in the courtroom's gallery, James returned to same front-row seat she used earlier in the trial.

James attended the first six days of the trial but had not been in the courtroom the last week.

Donald Trump plans to attend his ongoing fraud trial in downtown Manhattan this morning, the former president said in a Truth Social post this morning.

Star witness Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and self-described "fixer," will be absent from the courtroom after a medical issue delayed his testimony.

Trump will instead hear testimony from his company's assistant controller, Donna Kidder.

State attorneys also plan to call real estate executives who appraised Trump properties, as well as real estate executive Jack Weisselberg, the son of former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who worked on a refinanced loan for Trump's 40 Wall Street property.

Trump was in attendance for the first three days of the trial when it began two weeks ago.

State attorney Andrew Amer concluded his direct examination of Trump Hotels chief accounting officer Mark Hawthorn by applauding Hawthorn's skills and experience.

Amer highlighted that Hawthorn successfully conducted cash flow analysis, understood estimated current value, and applied the generally accepted accounting principles to his work.

Asked by Amer if he was ever asked to work on Trump's statement of financial condition -- a job that was handled by other executives like CFO Allen Weisselberg and controller Jeffrey McConney, who in earlier testimony acknowledged their lack of knowledge regarding foundational accounting principles -- Hawthorn replied that he was never approached about the task.

"I would be qualified to give it a try," said Hawthorn.

Hawthorn then stepped down from the witness stand to make way for Trump Organization assistant controller Donna Kidder to begin her testimony, after which court was adjourned for the day.

Kidder's testimony is scheduled to resume tomorrow morning, when former President Trump is expected to return to the courtroom.

Trump Hotels chief accounting officer Mark Hawthorn testified that in 2018 he inadvertently overstated the value of Trump's assets by relying on Trump's statement of financial condition.

When an outside accounting firm requested the amount of Trump's liquid assets, Hawthorn said he consulted the financial statement that listed "cash equivalents in excess of $290 million."

The New York attorney general alleges that Vornado Partnerships, a separate company with whom Trump has a limited partnership interest, owned 30% of the "cash and cash equivalents" Trump claimed in his 2018 statement.

In his testimony, Hawthorn said that information was not disclosed in the statement. He also said that he only was able to view the statement briefly in a 20-minute Google Meet session.

"It appears to have been overstated," Hawthorn said of the representation of Trump's assets on the statement.

Judge Arthur Engoron denied Donald Trump's request for a mistrial, describing the defendants' arguments as "nonsensical," "disingenuous," and "utterly without merit."

Engoron rejected the motion without hearing any arguments from the New York Attorney General, who earlier this week requested that an extended briefing be scheduled.

"I cannot sign a proposed order to show cause that is utterly without merit, and upon which subsequent briefing would therefore be futile," Engoron wrote in his ruling.

Across a four-page order, Engoron sharply disagreed with the allegations from the defendants that he was engaging in "co-judging" with his law clerk.

"As I have made clear over the course of this trial, my rulings are mine, and mine alone. There is absolutely no 'co-judging' at play," Engoron said.

Addressing his principal law clerk's political donations, which the judge said she has largely made in order to purchase tickets to functions while pursuing elected judicial office, Engoron called out the defendants for failing to acknowledge the "applicable unambiguous ethical guidelines" that permit such donations. He similarly dismissed the idea that his clerk attending events sponsored by political organizations implies that she supports any position taken by those groups.

"Such arguments are nonsensical; and in any event, they are a red herring, as my Principal Law Clerk does not make rulings or issue orders -- I do," Engoron said in his ruling.

Court was subsequently adjourned for the day.