| Calk Found
Guilty Of Manafort Loans To Get Cabinet or
UN Position Wants No Jail Time
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Podcast 2 3 5
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 6 – After months of preliminaries,
the trial of Stephen Calk for
conspiracy to trade his bank's
loans to Paul Manafort for the
Secretary of the Army position
began on June 23. Inner City
Press live tweeted, here,
previous coverage here,
podcast here
On July 13,
after mere hours, the jury
found him guilty. Inner City
Press verdict tweet here; in
front of 40 Foley Square, Calk
refused questions (including
on his bank and desire of UN
Ambassador position) and was
whisked off in a black car.
Video here.
Sentencing set for January 10,
2022. Podcast here.
Comment from
Calk's lawyer: "We are very
disappointed by the verdict
and will be pursuing all
available legal remedies,
including an appeal," said
Paul H. Schoeman, Co-Managing
Partner at Kramer Levin
Naftalis & Frankel LLP.
On December
6, Calk's lawyer Schoeman
filed a sentencing memo asking
for no incarceration, calling
this "case truly unique in the
annals of bank bribery
prosecutions." So too would be
a non incarceratory sentence
for this crime. Watch this
site.
On August 20,
Kramer Levin filed a letter
seeking acquittal, arguing
among other things that
Manafort's help wasn't worth
the requisite $1000,"
amounting to no more that "one
email to Jared Kushner and
communications with
Scaramucci."
On October 8,
Kramer Levin went further,
saying the government's focus
on the value of Calk's plane
ticket to New York to be
interviewed by the "Tiger
Team" and stay at the Four
Seasons Hotel in that
connection met the $1000
threshold. On the loans, the
argument is that "lacking
actual evidence of corrupt
intent, the government
attempts to shoe horn a
narrative into the otherwise
innocuous facts that are in
evidence." Watch this site.
The trial: the
defense opening statement and
first witness, here,
and Inner City Press question
to Calk on Scaramucci, here
(& Alamy photo here)
On June 29 came
the cross examination of
Anthony Scaramucci, which
Inner City Press live tweeted
here and below, (podcast
here)
Song I here.
On July 12 the
jury got the case late in the
afternoon, and will be
deliberating on July 13. Inner
City Press live
tweeted, here from the
defense summation and US
rebuttal:
Calk's lawyer:
The question is, Would Mr.
Calk think that getting foot
in the door for a Tiger Team
interview, which some got for
free, would constitute a
bribe? No. Let's turn to
bank bribery. They have to
prove corrupt intent.
Calk's lawyer: Mr. Calk had to
sit through this trial behind
a mask. But there is a face
behind that mask. He has a
life outside this courtroom.
My time is almost up. I could
on you to think, when the
government rebuts, what would
the defense say? Say, Not
guilty
US rebuttal
summation, AUSA: I don't have
time to respond to everything
the defense said. But I don't
have to - you know what
happened here. Look at how the
loans were stalled until the
election - then they moved
forward.
AUSA
Rothman: The defense showed
you a spaghetti chart. Did you
see Steve Bannon on it? Calk
sent one email to Steve Bannon
- but did Mr. Bannon do
anything? I can sent an email
to Santa Claus. What does it
mean?
AUSA: This
is a case about a corrupt CEO,
a bank chairman, who took
advantage of his power to try
to buy more more. The idea
that he didn't value
Manafort's help is
disingenuous. You saw how
greedy he was, in his texts
with Mr. Scaramucci
AUSA: He
valued this, he wanted this.
And one person got him in the
door: Mr. Manafort. The case
person he was giving $16
million in loans to.
Judge Schofield:
You are about to go into the
jury room. You are not to
consider the reaction of the
parties or public Judge
Schofield: The three alternate
jurors will not be in the jury
room, until they are asked to
replace a juror. Then
deliberations would re-start.
First, elect a foreperson...If
you have questions, please be
specific.
And the jurors
left for the day, to resume
with deliberation on July 13 -
when he was found guilty.
The case is US v. Calk, 19-cr-366
(Schofield)
***
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