Yet, Suarez noted, Bender’s firm told clients it might need specialists’ help to evaluate works of art, jewelry, and some types of securities in closely held businesses and real estate. Suarez showed video Wednesday of pretrial testimony in which Bender said he didn’t recall whether he consulted with any specialists when preparing Trump’s financial statements.
Suarez, in cross-examining Bender on Tuesday and Wednesday, sought to depict the accountant as sloppy. His firm’s work agreement with Trump’s company specified that the accountants would “not express an opinion or any conclusion nor provide any assurance on the financial statements.”
“We do not verify the accuracy of any of the information provided,” Harris said. Another accountant, Camron Harris, testified Wednesday that his work on the 2021 statement involved checking information provided by Trump’s company for “obvious errors” and formatting it for presentation. But accountant Donald Bender, who prepared the financial statements for years, testified Tuesday that the Trump Organization didn’t always supply all the information needed to accurately produce the documents.
