Legal expert: NY AG can shut down Trump Org operations like she forced Trump charity to close
Appearing on MSNBC with host Chris Jansing, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance claimed that the letter from the Mazars Group accounting firm that cautioned that the past ten years of Trump Organization financial statements are not to be trusted means that Donald Trump and his family are in a heap of "trouble with Uncle Sam."
Sitting down with Jansing and NBC's Tom Winters to discuss the break-up between the Trump Org and their accounting firm, which has led legal analysts to believe means Mazars may have "flipped" on the Trumps, Vance stated the letter is a stunning legal setback for the Trump family and could lead to the shuttering of their company.
"So Joyce, let me go to the Trump Organization statement, which is that, 'this confirmation effectively rendered the investigation by the [Manhattan] DA and the AG. moot.' Does it? " host Jansing asked.
"It absolutely doesn't, Chris," Vance replied with a smile, "and one of the intriguing issues here is how did New York's attorney general come into possession of this letter, which was sent from Trump's accountant to the Trump Organization? She's not cc'd on the letter; your accounting firm doesn't typically send business correspondence to the attorney general in your state."
"So there's a suggestion here that Mazars is engaged with the New York attorney general, "she elaborated. "This whole issue came up as [NY AG] Letitia James was trying to take the depositions of Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump, and she's been forced to justify that position by the Trump folks in the course of that litigation and this document has come out now."
"Details of other transactions that are highly questionable, and that may be sharp business practices or fraud, but James is likely to get her depositions, and she, of course, has jurisdiction under New York's Martin Act to protect New York from sharp business practices. she has the authority to curtail businesses' ability to operate, and even as she did with Trump's charitable fund, to no longer permit them to operate in the state of New York. So the consequences here, just on the civil side, could be dramatic. The criminal investigation will proceed at its own pace."
Vance added that Trump may have bigger problems with the IRS, stating "If you're knowingly and intentionally giving the IRS fake numbers, that's what Mazar's seems to be saying -- there was trouble with the data we received from Trump -- if they did that on purpose, they could have trouble with Uncle Sam."
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