Chicago banker’s $16.5 million loan offer to Paul Manafort was ‘bribe’ aimed at getting cushy Trump administration gig, Manhattan federal prosecutor tells jury

A Chicago banker tried to land a cushy Trump administration job by offering $16.5 million in loans to ex-Donald Trump campaign manager and ‘fixer’ Paul Manafort, a Manhattan federal prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

The banker, Stephen Calk, aspired to a cabinet post or ambassadorship, the feds say. But he blew his job interview for a lower-level Pentagon job, prosecutors say, and is now on trial for bribery in Manhattan Federal Court.

Calk, former chairman and CEO of The Federal Savings Bank of Chicago, had no more than “power and prestige” in mind when he offered a pair of loans to Manafort in late 2016 and early 2017, a prosecutor said during opening arguments at Calk’s trial.

“This is a case about greed, but not greed for money. Greed for power, for prestige, for importance,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Rothman.

“It’s about this man, Stephen Calk, who wanted a powerful government title and gave out millions of dollars in bank loans to try to get it.”

Rothman said Calk ignored crimson-red flags in his vain pursuit of power.

At the time Manafort was trying to score the loans, he owed $300,000 in credit card debt and had recently taken a hit to his credit score.

Manafort, who had already secured Calk a position on the 2016 Trump campaign’s economic advisory committee, was also defaulting on a separate loan, facing foreclosure on his Los Angeles condo, and was under suspicion of commingling with pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs, Rothman said.

Manafort resigned as Trump’s campaign manager in August 2016, and he was tried and convicted of bank and tax fraud in Northern Virginia in 2019. In 2020, Trump pardoned him.

Any question in jurors’ minds as to Calk’s motives when he green-lit the loans to Manafort would be answered, Rothman said, when they learned the timing of the first loan’s closure: on the night of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The first of the two loans, for $9.5 million, seemed doomed before the election — but its prospects improved as Trump appeared headed to victory, Rothman said.

“As it became clear that Donald Trump would win the election, Calk saw his chance,” Rothman said, adding that Calk texted Manafort as Trump was on the cusp of the presidency to tell him the $9.5 million loan would be “wrapped the next day.”

Rothman told jurors of how in the following weeks, Calk provided Manafort with a ranked list of government positions he wanted while Manafort’s second loan — this one for $6.5 million — was pending.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Calk was not shy. Top of the list? Secretary of the Treasury, followed by Secretary of Commerce, followed by Secretary of Defense,” Rothman said.

Lower on the list were 19 ambassadorships, beginning with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy.

Calk ultimately was offered a Pentagon post, undersecretary of the Army.

But he lost the position after his job interview at Trump Tower.

Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci is expected to testify about the nature of the interview on Thursday.

Calk is charged with one count of financial institution bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit financial institution bribery. He maintains his innocence.

In his opening arguments, Calk’s lawyer asked jurors to leave politics at the door and urged them not to allow their feelings on Donald Trump to influence them in hearing the case.

“The name Donald Trump is going to come up during this trial. Some people like him. Some people don’t,” said Paul Schoeman.

He also noted that the loans were approved by other bank officials, and that Manafort got no break on interest or fees, and had to put up more collateral than the loans were worth.

“Mr. Calk did not commit a crime. He did not make a corrupt deal. He is not guilty of these charges.”