Longtime Trump accountant says a decade of financial statements are unreliable

A taxi passes by Trump Tower, the headquarters of the Trump Organization, in New York City in 2021.
A taxi passes by Trump Tower, the headquarters of the Trump Organization, in New York City in 2021.
Ted Shaffrey/AP

Mazars USA, the longtime accountants for the Trump Organization, former President Donald Trump's family business, ended its relationship with the company last week as prosecutors continue their investigation.

The development was revealed in court documents filed Monday as part of a probe by the New York state attorney general's office.

In a letter dated Feb. 9 to the Trump Organization's executive vice president and chief legal officer, Mazars' attorney warned that financial statements from 2011 to 2020 "should no longer be relied upon."

"We have come to this conclusion based, in part, upon the filings made by the New York Attorney General on January 18, 2022, our own investigation, and information received from internal and external sources," William Kelly, Mazars' general counsel, wrote.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

The revelation comes more than seven months after Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. charged the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, for crimes in connection with an alleged tax fraud scheme. Weisselberg and attorneys for the company have pleaded not guilty, and a court trial for that case is likely to begin as early as next August.

New York attorney general Letitia James started investigating the Trump Organization in 2019 after Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, told Congress that Trump lowered his real estate tax obligations and obtained bank loans through manipulating his property values.

James' office has also been partnering with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in a criminal probe into Trump's family business.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.