Donald Trump’s second son has vowed retaliation against New York’s attorney general after his family’s accountancy firm cut ties.
Mazars USA reportedly told the Trump Organization last week that a decades worth of financial statements should no longer be relied upon and that it could no longer work for the Trump family.
The accountancy firm said it followed the work of New York Attorney General Leticia James, who is involved in two separate probes into the Trump Organization’s finances, as well as its own investigation.
Eric Trump tweeted that attorneys “will be in front of a New York Judge outlining the blatantly unethical behaviour of Tish James the NY Attorney General” on Thursday after Mazars’ announcement was made public in a court filing on Monday.
The executive vice president of the Trump Organization added: “There are 81 pages of videos, tweets & fundraising solicitations (some as recent as two weeks ago) in our lawsuit for the judge to see”.
No further details about the allegations were given.
According to the court filing in New York, Mazars told the Trump Organization on 9 February: “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”.
Ms James, the attorney general for the state, announced last month that her civil investigation into the Trump family business had uncovered evidence that former president Trump and his company used “fraudulent or misleading” valuations of its golf clubs and other properties. He denies those claims.
Eric Trump’s tweet was followed by an appearance on Fox News on Monday night, during which a visibly emotional 38-year-old attacked prosecutors “that go after my father every single day for nothing, right? Just because he’s clearly the frontrunner for 2024”.
Ms James has been investigating whether the Trump Organization inflated real estate values to obtain bank loans, and reduced values to lower tax bills, however neither the former president nor his children have been accused of criminal wrongdoing.
A Trump Organization spokesperson said in a statement the company is “disappointed that Mazars has chosen to part ways.” But the spokesperson added the letter confirms that “Mazars‘ work was performed in accordance with all applicable accounting standards and principles” and that the statements of financial condition “do not contain any material discrepancies.”
Additional reporting by Reuters.
