#Trump’s attys declined to cross-examine #CameronHarris, but they reserved the right to call him back to the stand later.
Instead, they spent the last hour of court continuing their cross-examination of fmr #Mazars USA #accountant #DonaldBender.
After defense highlighted Bender's inconsistent statements about Mazars' use of specialists to evaluate assets, #Bender seemed to struggle to articulate how Mazars provided #accounting expertise.
#WhitleyPenn #accountant, #CameronHarris, said he was responsible for compiling & checking the docs for obvious errors but the clients were ultimately in charge of preparing the info.
"Who's responsible for the statement of financial condition?" asked state atty #KevinWallace.
"The client's responsible for that," Harris replied.
Things got more professional after #Trump left. Before, they objected so often Engoron called them out. After, defense didn’t log a single one.
#CameronHarris, argued the #Trumps are #responsible for their #FinancialStatements
#DonaldTrumpJr & #EricTrump, who signed the representation letr. & the engagement letr. for the 2021 compilation of #Trump’s statements of #financial condition, were a focus of the PM court session.
When #DonaldBender was engaged, #AllenWeisselberg, fmr #TrumpOrg CFO, played that role, but by 2021, the responsibility for retaining & managing the #accounting relationship seems to have shifted to the #TrumpSons.
#EricTrump came up for the first time in testimony. #CameronHarris said that Eric was a member of executive leadership who set “the tone at the top” & that he had no interactions w/Eric re: the statements of financial condition. Their first meeting took place after the 2021 statement was issued.
Eric Trump is in the front row shaking his head suggesting he doesn’t agree with Harris' descriptions of his role.
The internal program for compilation does “not verify any of the accuracy of the information provided,” which distinguishes a compilation from a review or an audit. It does not include, for example, analytics or inquiries of management, much less verification of work papers.
#CameronHarris is essentially limiting the scope of their work, as #Bender did.
As the AG did w/ #Bender, they are reviewing specific language from #WhitleyPenn’s written description of the process. He says they went through the 2020 statement of #financial condition to understand how to obtain info & their process.
#CameronHarris discussed Whitley Penn’s internal “program” for compiling statements of financial condition, which appears to be a guide to how to handle compilations.
The trial resumed w/o #Trump, the mood in the courtroom considerably lighter now that he is is gone.
#Engoron allowed an interruption to #Bender’s testimony to accommodate #CameronHarris, the partner at #WhitleyPenn who handled Trump’s #accounting work after #Mazars resigned in 2020.
#Harris is now discussing the role of #JeffMcConney, the #TrumpOrg comptroller, in their engagement to compile the statements of financial condition.
Nonilex