House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney said Thursday that the panel reached an agreement with former President Donald Trump and his ex-accounting firm, Mazars USA, to obtain his financial records, putting an end to years of litigation.
“After facing years of delay tactics, the committee has now reached an agreement with the former president and his accounting firm, Mazars USA, to obtain critical documents,” Maloney, D-N.Y., said in a statement Thursday. “These documents will inform the committee’s efforts to get to the bottom of former President Trump’s egregious conduct and ensure that future presidents do not abuse their position of power for personal gain.”
Under the leadership of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the committee initially issued a subpoena to Mazars in April 2019. Lawyers for Trump and the Trump Organization swiftly sued Cummings to block the subpoena for years of financial records from several Trump entities. The subpoena expired with the new Congress.
Last year, Maloney reissued a subpoena to Mazars related to the committee’s investigations into potential presidential conflicts of interest. In July, a federal appeals court ruled that the committee has the authority to get some of the records, but it limited the scope of what it can seek.
Mazars said in a statement to NBC News that it could not comment on the agreement.
"Due to our industry’s professional obligations, Mazars cannot discuss any clients — current or former, the status of our relationships, or the nature of our services in a public forum without client consent or as required by law," the company said. "We remain committed to fulfilling all of our professional and legal obligations."
The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump's tax returns and underlying tax documents were turned over to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance last year. That subpoena for the tax documents from Mazars was enforced after the Supreme Court declined in a separate case to stop their production following an emergency application from Trump’s attorneys. Under New York state law, materials turned over to a grand jury must be kept secret.
Mazars said this year that it would no longer work with the Trump Organization in a letter made public by New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of her civil probe into the company. In its letter, Mazars said a decade’s worth of statements from the Trump Organization could no longer “be relied upon.”
