Donald Trump’s financial and legal problems just got a lot worse
Why is this such a big deal? Well, the language from Mazars, the accounting firm,…


Why is this such a big deal? Well, the language from Mazars, the accounting firm, masks it a bit, so let me translate: What they are saying is that neither Trump nor anyone who interacts with him should rely on their assessments of his relative financial health over the past decade.
The firm is, in effect, jumping off what looks like a sinking ship. And they are doing so, at least partially, because of information that has come to light as part of an ongoing investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“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,” Mazars wrote in a letter to the Trump Organization chief legal officer, advising them to no longer rely on financial statements ending June 2011 through June 2020.
We know that James is looking into allegations that Trump’s organization over- and under-valued assets in order to win favorable terms on loans and the like. In a court filing in January, James’ office suggested it had come across information “indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions.”
The decision by Mazars appears to be an attempt to protect itself from possible legal entanglements relating to Trump. Their desire to wash their hands fully of Trump comes across bluntly in this part of the statement:
“While we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies, based upon the totality of the circumstances, we believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those financial statements is appropriate.”
In essence: We haven’t found any specific examples of over- or under-valuation (yet) but we believe James and want to get as far away from any blame in this situation as humanly possible. And we want everyone who relied on the financial statements provided by our firm to know that they should stop doing that.
The decision by Mazars further isolates Trump as he faces a series of legal problems. Consider that in addition to James’ investigation, Trump faces the following:
The legal walls continue to close in on Trump. And serve as a reminder that the biggest impediment to Trump running again for president in 2024 is legal, not political.