From Donald Trump’s accounting firm Mazars USA to Donald Trump: You’re fired. It says it can’t stand behind The Trump Organization’s 2011-2020 statements of financial condition. In essence: buh-bye!
Donald J. Trump’s longtime accounting firm cut ties with him and his family business last week, saying it could no longer stand behind a decade of annual financial statements it prepared for the Trump Organization, court documents show.
The decision, which was disclosed to the company in a Feb. 9 letter from the accounting firm, comes amid criminal and civil investigations into whether Mr. Trump illegally inflated the value of his assets. The firm, Mazars USA, compiled the financial statements based on information the former president and his company provided.
The letter instructed the Trump Organization to essentially retract the documents, known as statements of financial condition, from 2011 to 2020. In the letter, Mazars noted that the firm had not “as a whole” found material discrepancies between the information the Trump Organization provided and the actual value of Mr. Trump’s assets. But given what it called “the totality of circumstances” — including Mazars’ own investigation — the letter directed the Trump Organization to notify anyone who received the statements that they should no longer rely on them.
The statements, which Mr. Trump used to secure loans, are at the center of the two law enforcement investigations into whether Mr. Trump exaggerated the value of his properties to defraud his lenders into providing him the best possible loan terms.
Mazars’ acknowledgment that the statements were fundamentally flawed was a potential blow to The Trump Organization as it attempts to fend off the long-running scrutiny of its finances. And for Mr. Trump, whose personal finances are intertwined with those of his family business and who has long faced questions about his taxes, Mazars is the latest in a long line of companies to break with him over the last year, following in the path of several banks, insurers and lawyers.
The disclosures about Mazars’ work for Mr. Trump appeared in new court documents filed by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, who is seeking to question the former president and two of his adult children under oath as part of her civil investigation.
As with most financial frauds, when the accountants quit we know there's more to come….
Accounting Firm Cuts Ties With Trump and Retracts Financial Statements https://t.co/SXHDmwleF9
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) February 14, 2022
For any business (including a privately-held one) that has outside financing or investors, having your financial statements (let alone 10 years' worth!) pulled by your accountants is just about the most calamitous thing that could happen to it, other than perhaps being indicted.
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 14, 2022
So w/Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars, walking away from Trump Org. & declaring that 10 years of their accounting work cannot be viewed as reliable (obviously because Trump & Co. fed Mazars false info), Trump Org. tries to spin it as a complete exoneration (& G. Orwell blushes). pic.twitter.com/eLK5BDPfx6
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) February 15, 2022
This is worse for him than getting impeached twice.
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 14, 2022
"decision regarding the financial financial statements"=they are false because you lied
"totality of the circumstances"=the D.A. is serious
"non-waivable conflict of interest"=we are now on team D.A.
"not able to provide new work product"=sorry we're not going to jail for you https://t.co/jbK2WUjncy pic.twitter.com/NbbDhUCbrL
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 14, 2022
Trump is screwed. https://t.co/9kbZMi5uQs
— Armando (@ArmandoNDK) February 14, 2022
Whoa. Trump's long-time accounting firm just dropped him and said they can no longer vouch for nearly 10 years of his financial statements. This just escalated to a whole other level.
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) February 14, 2022
AG James’ office has submitted a court filing Re Trump case that includes a letter from his company’s accounting firm saying nearly a decade worth of financial statements can no longer be relied upon. pic.twitter.com/sDUcDF1BEd
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 14, 2022
NEW: Trump’s accounting firm has told the Trump Organization that the former president’s “Statements of Financial Condition” from 2011-2020 can no longer be relied on.
Mazars USA says they base this on the AG’s investigation, their own internal investigation, and additional info
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) February 14, 2022
Trump’s longtime accounting firm abruptly cut ties with his family business last week and directed the Trump Organization to notify anyone who received past statements that they should no longer rely on them
https://t.co/wOGqNbPLgA— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) February 14, 2022
"The letter instructed the Trump Org to essentially retract the documents…[which] Mr. Trump used to secure loans"
Have fun trying to refinance that reported $400+ million of debt – without the help of foreign friends, of course.https://t.co/6uH9RzH4Jt
— Peter Strzok (@petestrzok) February 14, 2022
NEW: Trump Org longtime accounting firm resigns and says nearly 10 years of financial statements cannot be relied upon. Anyone feeling Al Capone? Sounds like AG James is closing in!
— Amy Siskind ???? (@Amy_Siskind) February 14, 2022
Photo 46510897 © Selezenj | Dreamstime.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.