>>> WHEN "THE WASHINGTON POST" DUG UP FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FROM
PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR A SCOOP THAT
SHOWS HOW MUCH TRUMP REGULARLY
EXAGGERATED ASSETS AND WEALTH IN
DOCUMENTS TO POTENTIAL INVESTORS
AND JOURNALISTS AND PEOPLE HE
WANTED TO IMPRESS, ON ONE HAND
THAT WAS YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF
THE PRESIDENT TELLING LIES ABOUT
PROVABLE THINGS.
PROVABLE THINGS. ON THE OTHER HAND, THOUGH, THIS
ISN’T EXACTLY LIKELYING LYING AB
YOUR HAND SIZE.
IS THERE A POTENTIAL LEGAL
LIABILITY FOR THE PRESIDENT IN
PRODUCING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
THAT MATERIALLY MISREPRESENT HOW
MUCH HE’S WORTH.
HERE IS HOW A PROFESSOR FROM
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
CHARACTERIZED IT.
CHARACTERIZED IT. HOW MUCH WOULD THE ERRORS IMPACT
AN INVESTOR.
AN INVESTOR. I SHOULD ALSO TELL YOU THIS
PROFESSOR ADDS HE’S NEVER SEEN A
DOCUMENTED STRETCHED SO MUCH FOR
ACCOUNTING.
ACCOUNTING. HE SAID IT’S HUMANEROUS.
JOINING US IS WASHINGTON POST
REPORTER THAT BROKE THIS STORY
TODAY.
TODAY. GREAT TO HAVE YOU WITH US.
THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
>> THANK YOU.
>> THIS FEELS A LITTLE BIT LIKE
SOME OF THE STUFF THAT MICHAEL
COHEN LAID OUT IN HIS BOMBSHELL
TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS COUPLE
WEEKS AGO WHERE HE TALKED ABOUT
THE PRESIDENT PLAYING DOWN
LIABILITIES IN ORDER TO TRY TO
GET LOANS FROM BANKS OR TO TRY
TO REDUCE HIS INSURANCE
PREMIUMS.
PREMIUMS. THAT SEEMED LIKE POTENTIAL LEGAL
JEOPARDY BECAUSE THE BANKING
INDUSTRY AND INSURANCE INDUSTRY
ARE TIGHTLY REGULATED AND CAN
SEND YOU TO JAIL, WHICH MICHAEL
COHEN IS ABOUT TO DO.
THIS REPORTING, THOUGH, IS ABOUT
PRESIDENT TRUMP TRYING TO
IMPRESS DIFFERENT SORTS OF
PEOPLE.
PEOPLE. SO I WONDER WHERE YOU CAME EVERO
ON THE ISSUE THIS MIGHT BE A
LEGAL PROBLEM FOR HIM.
>> IN THE SHORT TERM IT IS A
LEGAL PROBLEM.
LEGAL PROBLEM. IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS WE’VE SEEN
SUBPOENAS THAT TO TRUMP’S LENDER
DEUTSCHE BANK AND TRUMP’S
INSURER AND DOCUMENT REQUESTS
FATHER OR MOTHER THE
FROM THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
BASICALLY ASKING FOLKS THAT
COHEN SAID TRUMP INFLUENCED WITH
THESE INFLATED STATEMENTS ASKING
TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTS ABOUT HOW
EXACTLY THEY WERE INFLUENCED AND
WHAT TRUMP TOLD THEM.
I DON’T KNOW WILL THIS LEAD TO
CIVIL CHARGES, LAWSUIT,
CRIMINAL?
CRIMINAL? THAT’S NOTIN THE FUTURE.
ALREADY, WE’VE SEEN THIS ISSUE
GO FROM KIND OF AN ISSUE AS YOU
SAID OF CHARACTER OR MORALS INTO
A LEGAL ISSUE AS THESE
INVESTIGATORS START TO DIG IN.
>> DAVID, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU
POINT OUT IS THAT THERE IS IN
THE FIRST PARAGRAPH FROM THE
STATEMENTS, THERE IS A CAVEAT
THAT SAYS WE HAVE NOT AUDITED OR
REVIEWED THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT
THAT SEEMS LIKE A CYA FORGIVE ME
STATEMENT FROM THE ACCOUNT
TABLET SAYING DON’T BLAME US. US
ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT’S IN HERE.
IS THAT KIND OF A CAVEAT SO
LEGALLY SIGNIFICANT THAT IT
COULD ACTUALLY BE KIND OF A GET
OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD FOR
NUMBERS AND DOCUMENTS LIKE THIS
THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE POTENTIALLY
GET YOU IN TROUBLE?
>> IT COULD.
THE EXPERTS WE TALKED TO SAID
THAT YES, THAT KIND OF
DISCLAIMER, IT’S A TWO-PAGE --
THAT’S HOW MANY THINGS WERE
WRONG WITH THESE DOCUMENTS
ACCORDING TO NORMAL ACCOUNTING
STANDARDS.
STANDARDS. IT’S A TWO-PAGE DISCLAIMER AT
THE BEGINNING OF A 20-PAGE
STATEMENT DESCRIBING ALL THE
DIFFERENT WAYS THAT TRUMP HAS
DIVULGED -- DIVERGED FROM NORMAL
PRACTICES.
PRACTICES. BUT EVEN AT TWO PAGES IT DOESN’T
COVER ALL THE DOCUMENT’S FLAWS.
THAT’S THE IMPORTANT THING HERE.
THERE ARE OTHER ERRORS IN THE
DOCUMENT, ERRORS OF FACT, THAT
ARE NOT DISCLAIMED, THAT ARE NOT
CAVEATED THAT YOU WOULDN’T KNOW
IF YOU WERE READING THE WHOLE
THING YOU WOULDN’T KNOW ARE
WRONG.
WRONG. ONE OF THE ONES YOU MENTIONED
EARLIER IS A $72 MILLION ERROR.
TRUMP SAID HE HAD 24 MORE HOME
LOTS TO SELL IN CALIFORNIA THAN
HE DID AND HE SAID HE WAS GOING
TO SELL THEM AT $3 MILLION
APIECE.
APIECE. IF YOU LOOK AT TRUMP AND SAY
HERE’S A GUY WHO’S GOT $72
MILLION WORTH OF FUTURE CASH
FLOW HE REALLY DOESN’T HAVE,
THAT COULD BE A MATERIAL
DISTINCTION.
DISTINCTION. >> DAVID, DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO
YOU THAT NEW YORK STATE
AUTHORITIES ARE AMONG THE LAW
ENFORCEMENT ENTITIES AND SORT OF
ACCOUNTABILITY ENTITIES THAT ARE
LOOKING INTO THESE MATTERS?
OBVIOUSLY THE TRUMP FOUNDATION
WHICH YOU DID SUCH
GROUNDBREAKING WORK ON, THE
TRUMP ORGANIZATION HEADQUARTERED
IN NEW YORK, PRESIDENT TRUMP IS
A RESIDENT OF NEW YORK, THESE
THINGS MOSTLY PERTAIN TO HIS
TIME, ALL PERTAIN TO HIS TIME
BEFORE HE WAS PRESIDENT.
DOES IT MAKE SENSE THAT NEW YORK
STATE WOULD BE THE ENTITY THAT
WOULD BE PURSUING THIS NOW?
>> IT MAKES SENSE THAT IT’S ONE
OF THE ENTITIES PURSUING IT.
DEUTSCHEBANK WHICH WAS ONE OF
TRUMP’S MAIN LENDERS OF THIS
PERIOD.
PERIOD. MICHAEL COHEN SAID THEY GOT A
LOT OF THESE FLAWED FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS.
STATEMENTS. THIS PARTICULAR OFFICE TRUMP
WENT TO IS DOWN AT 30 WALL
STREET.
STREET. THE INSURANCE REGULATORS AND THE
NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL HAVE
JURISDICTION OVER BOTH ENDS OF
THE TRANSACTION.
THE TRANSACTION. THE ACCOUNTANTS, TRUMP, AS WELL
AS HIS INSURER AND HIS LENDER.
>> DAVID FARENTHOLD, REPORTER
WITH THE "WASHINGTON POST,"
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER.
SIR, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US