Dems ask if military job was dangled to Chicago banker ensnared in Manafort probe

Source: Bloomberg

Dems ask if military job was dangled to Chicago banker ensnared in Manafort probe
Andrew Martin and John McCormick
Bloomberg
APRIL 12, 2018 1:35 PM


In the days after Donald Trump was elected president, a Chicago banker and campaign economic adviser named Stephen Calk called U.S. Army personnel to discuss the confirmation process for a high-level position, according to Defense Department documents obtained by congressional Democrats.

About that time, Calk's bank, the Federal Savings Bank in Chicago, provided the first of several mortgage loans, totaling $16 million, to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether the loans were made as part of a "quid-pro-quo arrangement to secure Mr. Calk a job in Mr. Trump's administration," specifically the post of Army Secretary, The Wall Street Journal reported in February.

In a letter sent to Calk on Thursday, Reps. Elijah Cummings and Stephen Lynch sought records related to the banker's communications with Manafort and the Trump campaign and about his bank's loans to Manafort. Cummings is the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, and Lynch is the ranking member of the subcommittee on national security.

"We now request information directly from you about why you were seeking that information and whether your actions were related to a quid pro quo with President Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort," the letter says.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-manafort-calk-military-job-20180412-story.html