An accounting firm’s decision to cut ties with the Trump Organization spells very bad news for former President Donald Trump, according to conservative attorney George Conway.
Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, sent a letter on Feb. 9 to Trump Organization executive vice president and chief legal officer Alan Garten notifying him of the firm’s decision to drop the business as a client. It also said that the financial statements it prepared for Trump between 2011 and 2020 “should no longer be relied upon.”
Those statements are at the center of two investigations into whether Trump illegally inflated the values of his assets to defraud lenders. The Mazars letter was included in a court document filed Monday by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office.
According to Conway, who is married to Trump’s former senior White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, having a decade’s worth of financial statements pulled by accountants is “just about the most calamitous thing” that could happen to any business with outside financing or investors.
“This is worse for him than being impeached twice,” he added.
The firm compiled the financial statements based on information provided by Trump and the business. In its letter, the firm said it had reached its decision based, in part, on filings made by the attorney general’s office last month and on its own investigation and information received from various sources.
“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,” the letter said.
Conway interpreted the language for his followers:
Conway also spotted a detail in the numbering system used on the firm’s letter, which he said indicated that accountants had provided extensive materials to prosecutors.
Mazars USA’s letter could aid the New York attorney general’s civil probe. While no criminal charges can be filed in the case, the attorney general could sue Trump and the company to seek financial penalties or shut down parts of his business in the state.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.