Manafort trial: Banker testifies about former Trump campaign manger's loans after mystery over Judge TS Ellis' hours-long recess

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The chief executive officer of a small Chicago bank that approved $16 million in loans to former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was seeking a post in the new administration, a witness has testified

Dennis Raico, a former Federal Savings Bank executive testifying under immunity, said the bank's chief executive, Stephen Calk, expressed interest in such posts as Treasury secretary or Housing and Urban Development secretary.

Mr Manafort later asked the incoming administration to consider tapping Mr Calk for secretary of the Army, according to testimony earlier in the week. Mr Calk, a retired Army officer and helicopter pilot, did not get the job.

Mr Raico was one of several witnesses scheduled for Friday as the trial resumed after a recess that lasted into the mid-afternoon. He and James Brennan, a Federal Savings executive, were granted immunity against prosecution by Special Counsel Robert Mueller before testifying.

The witnesses were the latest in the government's case against Mr Manafort, who faces 18 felony counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and failing to disclose about 30 foreign bank accounts.

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Four of Mr Manafort's felony counts involve the $16 million of loans prosecutors have said were extended by Federal Savings in late 2016 and early 2017. Mr Manafort denies all the charges against him.

The bank and Mr Calk, who was named an economic adviser to the Mr Trump campaign in August 2016, did not respond to requests for comment.

Rick Gates, the deputy chairman of Trump's inaugural committee, who also worked on his campaign, testified earlier this week that Mr Manafort had told him to ask about making Mr Calk secretary of the Army.

Associated Press

Key Points

• Rick Gates testifies to falsifying documents during Manafort trial
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[10 August 2018 21:06 · Steve Anderson]

"Mr. Calk was interested in politics," Mr Raico of Federal Savings Bank said from the witness box.

Mr Raico testified he offered the investigators information to build their case against Mr Manafort in June 2017. Mr Manafort is accused of defrauding the bank for $16 million.

Mr Manafort denies all the charges against him.

[10 August 2018 21:21 · Steve Anderson]

Mr Raico described an email he had received from his assistant, who detailed a phone call she had with Manafort. In the conversation she summarized in her email, Manafort explained that the income for his business DMP International had recently increased.

“He explained to me that he is in the consulting business and naturally the income fluctuates,” the email to Raico from his assistant read.

But Raico expressed some skepticism.

“A plus B didn’t equal C all the time,”Mr  Raico testified to the financial information the bank would get from Mr Manafort.

[10 August 2018 21:22 · Steve Anderson]

Mr Manafort also told Mr Raico’s assistant that more than $200,000 in charges on his American Express was because he lent his “friend” the card, according to testimony.

Mr Raico testified that he understood the friend described to be Mr Manafort’s business partner Rick Gates, who purchased New York Yankees season tickets.

[10 August 2018 21:49 · Steve Anderson]

Dennis Raico, a loan officer at Federal Savings Bank, has now testified that three days after the presidential election in 2016, bank CEO Stephen Calk called Mr Raico because he had not spoken with Mr Manafort for a few days and he wanted to know if he was being considered for Secretary of the Treasury of Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Trump administration. 

The call and Mr Calk's wish for him to pass on messages to Mr Manafort “made me very uncomfortable,” Mr Raico told the court.

A previous witness testified that Mr Manafort messaged his former associate Rick Gates about Mr Trump considering Calk for Secretary of the Army, while Mr Gates was involved with the transition team.

[10 August 2018 22:33 · Steve Anderson]

Paul Manafort's attorney Richard Westling attempted to sow doubt into what a Federal Savings Bank loan officer told the jury about his boss' pressure to approve $16 million in loans for Paul Manafort while seeking a position in the Trump operation.

Mr Manafort allegedly lied to the bank about his personal and business assets when he sought the loans.

Mr Westling walked Dennis Raico, the loan officer, through the fact that the loans the bank offered to Mr Manafort were fully secured by other assets of Manafort, including a mansion in the Hamptons owned by his wife.

Mr Westling also prompted Mr Raico to admit that three members of the bank's credit approval committee voted on Mr Manafort's loan approvals — not just Stephen Calk, the Federal Savings Bank founder who witnesses have testified wanted a place in the Trump administration.

[10 August 2018 22:48 · Steve Anderson]

The prosecution have one more witness to go - but we are ending our coverage for now. Thanks for reading.