Donald Trump's longtime accounting firm Mazars may have handed over more than 525,000 documents to prosecutors after it announced it is cutting ties with the former president's business because a decade's worth of financial statements "should no longer be relied upon."
In a letter to Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten, Mazars executive William J. Kelly expressed concerns about the statements, which are currently being investigated by New York Attorney General Letitia James, as well as the Manhattan District Attorney.
Kelly told the business that statements of financial condition from June 30, 2011 to June 30, 2020, should not be considered valid. The statements, which Trump used to secure loans, are at the center of the two investigations into allegations that Trump and members of his family fraudulently inflated or undervalued the value of assets to get better bank loans and other financial benefits.
Mazars noted that the firm has not concluded if the 10 years' worth of financial statements contain any "material discrepancies," but based on what they refer to as the "totality of the circumstances" they advised to the Trump Organization to "no longer rely upon those financial statements."
As noted by George Conway, lawyer and frequent critic of Trump, included on the letter is what's known as a Bates number reading 00525838.
Asked on Twitter about the significance of this figure, the husband of former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway replied: "It suggests that the accountants have produced at least 525,838 pages of material to prosecutors."
check out the Bates number on the Mazars letter pic.twitter.com/tPKLL7q8oF
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 14, 2022
Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, added by way of explanation: "That's a Bates Stamp—when documents are turned over in litigation each is assigned a sequential number to protect the integrity of the production. So Mazars has turned over at least this many pages of documents."
Elsewhere, Conway suggested that for Trump, having 10 years of financial statements essentially pulled by his accountants is "worse for him than getting impeached twice."
Asked to clarify on CNN, Conway added: "The worst thing to happen to an impeached president is they are removed from office and they go back to doing what they did in private life," Conway said. "This is his private life.
"All these financial statements are worthless to him, and there's no likelihood that he's going to be able to find another accountant to fix this problem.
"This is about as calamitous a thing that could happen to a business that you could imagine, other than getting indicted or going bankrupt."
In a statement to Newsweek, the Trump Organization said it was "disappointed" that Mazars has chosen to part ways with the company but said the letter confirms that their work was "performed in accordance with all applicable accounting standards and principles and that such statements of financial condition do not contain any material discrepancies."
"This confirmation effectively renders the investigations by the DA and AG moot," the statement added.
James, who previously detailed a number of examples in which the Trump Organization allegedly committed tax and insurance fraud as part of her office's investigation, added: "As the most recent filings demonstrate, the evidence continues to mount showing that Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading financial statements to obtain economic benefit.
"There should be no doubt that this is a lawful investigation and that we have legitimate reason to seek testimony from Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump. We will continue to follow the facts and ensure that no one is above the law."
Mazars has been contacted for further comment.
