Former Trump Campaign Economic Adviser Assails Bribery Prosecution
Former Trump Campaign Economic Adviser Assails Bribery Prosecution
(Bloomberg) -- In the wake of the administration’s moves to cast former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn as a victim of an FBI setup, another figure in Donald Trump’s orbit is also arguing his bribery prosecution was marred by bad faith.
Stephen Calk, a Chicago banker charged with financial institution bribery for allegedly approving $16 million in loans to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in exchange for a possible senior-level position in the administration, including Treasury Secretary, claims U.S. prosecutors seeking a search warrant for Calk’s smartphone withheld witness statements that would have shown there was no link between the loans and any promise of a job.
Calk’s claims came days after Attorney General William Barr moved to drop the prosecution of Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents before deciding to try to withdraw his plea. In contrast with Flynn, who has made claims of government wrongdoing the center of his attempt to undo his guilty plea, Calk’s team is more narrowly focused on FBI interviews they claim show the Manafort loans were legitimate and justified by normal business considerations.
Prosecutors “acted at least recklessly” in applying for the warrant, Calk’s lawyers said in court papers filed May 11. They also said an earlier government filing “contains numerous disclosures that were either entirely omitted from, or at odds with” earlier statements. Calk wants U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan to conduct a hearing on the matter and to block prosecutors from using evidence found on the phone.
The government responded on May 13, saying Calk’s lawyers were making “baseless accusations of bad faith” and casting “unfounded aspersions” on the lead prosecutor in the case. Schofield is expected to rule soon.
The government charged Calk, founder and former chief executive officer of The Federal Savings Bank of Chicago, last year with pushing through “high-risk” loans for Manafort, despite numerous red flags. They claim the banker, who served as an economic adviser to the 2016 Trump campaign, sent a document to Manafort ranking administration roles he would accept, including Treasury Secretary and the ambassadorships to the U.K. and France. Calk was never offered any of the positions.
Calk, 55, pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on $5 million bond with a trial currently scheduled for Sept. 3. If convicted, Calk faces as many as 30 years in prison though would likely receive a much lower sentence.
According to prosecutors, Manafort approached the bank in the spring of 2016, seeking to refinance loans issued by another lender on several real estate projects involving him and his son-in-law, Jeffrey Yohai. Calk allegedly said a few months later that he was interested in participating in the presidential campaign.
Calk says statements given to the FBI by Yohai and other bank executives clear him and should have been shown to the judge who issued the warrant on his phone.
Manafort, 71, was found guilty in 2018 of financial crimes and illegal lobbying. Sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison, he remains the highest-profile figure convicted in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election. Manafort was released to home confinement last week due to coronavirus fears.
The case is U.S. v. Calk, 19-cr-00366, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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