Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has begun his testimony in his former boss' civil fraud trial.

Sitting at a cramped counsel table between his lawyers, Trump is about ten feet from his former lawyer and so-called "fixer."

The courtroom itself is at capacity, with attendance appearing to exceed the number of observers during the trial's opening statements.

When Mazars USA said that Trump's financial statements were no longer reliable in 2022, the accounting firm did not conduct an audit or identify any "material discrepancies" in Trump's statements, Mazars General Counsel Bill Kelly testified.

"As we have stated in the Statements of Financial Condition, Mazars performed its work in accordance with professional standards. A subsequent review of those workpapers confirms this," Kelly wrote in a 2022 letter to the Trump Organization entered into evidence.

Both Trump and his lawyer Jesus Suarez seized on the admission from Mazars.

During cross examination, Suarez displayed multiple financial statements and repeatedly asked Kelly about the lack of discrepancies identified in the statements. Exiting court for a break, Trump also focused on that portion of the testimony.

"They found no discrepancies, there was nothing wrong with the financials," Trump said, alleging that his former accountants were "abused" and "hurt very badly" by the New York attorney general.

Trump's accounting firm resigned from engagements with the Trump Organization in 2021 after learning it could no longer rely on former CFO Allen Weisselberg, Mazars USA General Counsel Bill Kelly testified.

The next year, Mazars determined that Trump's statements could no longer be relied upon following a filing related to New York Attorney General Letitia James' investigation of the Trump Organization.

"When the NYAG filed a paper in court, you took them at their word and never once conferred with your client?" defense attorney Jesus Suarez asked during his cross examination of Kelly, adding that Trump paid Mazars millions before their relationship ended.

"You just kicked them to the curb, right?" Suarez added, alleging that Mazars tried to "curry favor" to avoid legal problems with authorities.

"We did not kick them to the curb," Kelly responded.

The cross examination of Kelly appeared to test the patience of Judge Engoron, who interrupted the questioning twice.

"That has been asked about five times already," Engoron said at one point. At a later point, he added, "Asked and answered many times. Yes, they were paid."

Trump lawyer Chris Kise continued to spar with state attorney Louis Solomon during the testimony of Mazars General Counsel Bill Kelly.

After Solomon objected to a question posted in Kelly's cross-examination, Kise interjected to call out Solomon for being hypocritical about the bounds of acceptable testimony.

"Everything in this courtroom concerns me and my client, including your health," Kise said, referring back to his earlier concern about a courtroom COVID-19 outbreak.

"Thanks for your concern," Solomon responded offhandedly.

Trump and his attorneys have adjusted their seating compared to past days, possibly due to health concerns, so that Trump and Kise are sitting further from the state attorneys.

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.