| Trial of
Manafort Lender Calk Has Scaramucci On
Election Night, Lobbied by Steve Cortes
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
Podcast
II
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
June 24 – 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
Then the defense
opening statement and first
witness, here,
and Inner City Press question
to Calk on Scaramucci, here
(& Alamy photo here)
On June 24 came
the direct examination of
Anthony Scaramucci, which
Inner City Press live tweeted
here
(podast here)
AUSA: What did
Mr. Manafort ask you to do for
Mr. Calk? Scaramucci: He
wanted Secretary of the Army,
but since that wasn't
available, we moved down.
AUSA: What was your
relationship with Mr.
Manafort? Scaramucci: He was
good to me on the campaign. I
wanted to help
AUSA: Who is
1202? Scaramucci: Paul
Manafort. AUSA: When did you
get involved in the campaign?
Scaramucci: Mid to late May of
2016.
AUSA: Who
asked you to join? Scaramucci:
Donald Trump. He asked me on
the 26th floor of Trump Tower.
We used 5 and 14 as our HQ.
AUSA: When did
you meet Paul Manafort?
Scaramucci: Mid-May. I went to
see Mr. Trump and I met Mr.
Manafort on the 26th floor. I
had been working for Jeb Bush
but he dropped out. So Mr.
Trump asked me to join. I
shook Mr. Manafort's hand
Scaramucci: On
election night I was at my
restaurant, the Hunt &
Fish Club. I went to an NYT
event, then with Louise Linton
and my wife, to the NY Hilton,
6th and 54th, for big donors.
There was cautious optimism.
It seemed it would fall to
Florida.
AUSA: How
did the mood change?
Scaramucci: I was with Mayor
Giuliani on the couch, he said
it was likely Trump would win.
The NYT dial [needle] was
moving for Trump. By 11 pm,
the mood was happier. Hillary
Clinton did not concede. But
Mr. Trump spoke at 2 am.
AUSA: Did you
stay on the transition?
Scaramucci: Yes. [In the court
room, Calk in mask is staring
at Scaramucci in the
plexiglass witness box.
Scaramucci: I was
on the Tiger Team, with Martin
Silverstein and John Sweeney
from update New York, to
interview deputy secretaries
in Trump Tower on the 14th and
15th floor.
AUSA: Did you
recommend anyone? Scaramucci:
Vincent Viola for Secretary of
Army. Scaramucci: But he owned
the Florida Panthers and
racehorses. He withdrew. Judge
Schofield: Let's take our
afternoon break. Thread will
continue.
Jury's
back. AUSA: Mr. Scaramucci,
I'll ask you to read this
message. Scaramucci: "How is 2
pm today."
AUSA: What was
Mr. Manafort asking for?
Scaramucci: A face to face
meeting with me. AUSA: Did you
meet? Scaramucci: Yes. There
was no discussion of Steve
Calk
AUSA: And
this one. Scaramucci: Dec 14,
2016, "Call me on 917 [we are
omitting], this is my second
cell, Paul." AUSA: Did you
call him? Scaramucci: Yes. He
recommended Steve Calk and one
Vernon Parker.
Scaramucci:
I told Mr. Manafort I had
recommended Vincent Viola. I
asked Mr. Manafort to text me.
I was being inundated with
requests. AUSA: Did Mr.
Manafort tell you he had
gotten million in loans from
Steve Calk's bank? Scaramucci:
No.
AUSA: Next
message. Scaramucci: Vernon
Parker, DOJ, Deputy AG
position. And Calk for deputy
secretary of the Army, or
personnel, DOD. AUSA: GX 611.
Scaramucci: "Any
progress on Stephen Calk? Did
you speak with him?" I'm the
blue bubbles [in the text
messages]. Scaramucci: When I
wrote, "Would he take under
secretary of the Army. If so,
I think we could get it done,"
I meant get him the interview.
It would have been up to
General Jim Mattis.
AUSA: Response?
Scaramucci: 29 minutes later
he said yes, He will take it.
AUSA: Did
you hear from Steve Cortes
about Mr. Calk? Scaramucci: I
did. I knew Steve Cortes from
CNBC. He had been working for
Rick Perry, then he came to
the Trump campaign. AUSA: Did
Steve Cortes follow up?
Scaramucci: No. But Mr.
Manafort did.
AUSA: Did
you speak with Mr. Calk on
December 27, 2016? Scaramucci:
Yes. He tried to name people
we might have had in common.
Perhaps Steve Cortes came up
in the call. I needed his CV
or a paragraph from his bio,
to get him into the Tiger
Team.
AUSA: DX
249. Scaramucci: It's
from Steve Calk, Dec 28, 2016.
It says, "Re: Steve Calk
Under-Sec Army." The body
says, Here's links to my work
on the President-Elect in the
last year. There's a link to a
coverage book. AUSA: DX
249a.
Scaramucci: CNBC
screen shot Scaramucci: The
economic team. It's like when
I worked for the Romney
campaign. One these you put,
in bucket one, economic
advisers like Peter Navaro.
Then two, like Stephen Ross.
Then bucket three,
fundraisers.
Scaramucci:
We had Stephen Moore, Navaro,
and Malpass - he went on
to the World Bank. Navaro had
an office in the executive
branch of the White
House. AUSA: What about
Wilbur Ross? Scaramucci:
Secretary of Commerce.
AUSA: New topic -
but there are only ten minutes
left. Judge Schofield: Let's
start. Everyone minute is
precious.
AUSA: What did
Mr. Calk want to speak with
you about? Scaramucci: Getting
the interview. He wrote, Happy
New Year, hope to hear from
you soon.
Scaramucci:
Jan 23, 2017 he wrote to me
about Ambassadorships.
AUSA: GX 314, and 609. Zoom
in. Scaramucci: It says,
preferred roles, I'd prefer to
speak with you live,
312. Then he wrote,
Checking to see if I'm still
in the game.
Judge
Schofield: We're adjourned
until Tuesday.
The case is US v. Calk, 19-cr-366
(Schofield)
***
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