During his testimony before Congress Wednesday, former Trump lawyer, now disbarred, and longtime fixer Michael Cohen mentioned Matthew calamari Sr. a near 40-year Trump Organization employee who ran the company’s security operations for years.
For more than a decade, Calamari has been a Trump Organization chief operating officer and a senior vice president. His son, Matthew Calarmai Jr. began doing security for the company in 2011 and later he described his job as “surveillance.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Asked Cohen Who’d Have Documents on Alleged Insurance Fraud & He Pointed to Trump Organization COO/EVP Matthew Calamari
Matthew Calamari, an executive vice president with the Trump Organization, stands in the lobby at Trump Tower, January 12, 2017 in New York City.
In one of his exhibits as part of his testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Cohen alleged Trump inflated or deflated his worth depending on what he was trying to achieve and provided three years of financial statements to bolster that claim.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked who would have records that would show Trump inflated assets to insurance companies in what is alleged to be fraud, he said Trump Organization officials Alan Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman and Matthew Calamari would know.
“Where do you think the committee might find more information on this? Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns in order to compare them?”
“Yes. You’d find it at the Trump Org.”
Cohen “endorsed” Calamari on the Trump loyalist’s LinkedIn page for being skilled at “negotiations.”
2. Calamari Sr. Began Working for Trump in 1981 & is Reported to be Among Trump’s Most Loyal Staff Who Said He’d ‘Kill’ For His Boss
Calamari is one of a likely few that has been part of Trump’s inner orbit for decades; he’s worked for the now-POTUS for more than 37 years.
The moustached former college football player is a large man described as “hulking.” It was reported that Trump calls him ‘Matty.’
According to Harry Hunt’s 1993 bio of Trump, at the 1981 U.S. Open at Forest Hills, Calamari was working security when he tossed fans bugging Trump at a match. So, Trump hired him as muscle and he’s been with the organization ever since. In Hunt’s book he writes that Calamari said he’d “kill for” Trump when asked by his boss about his loyalty.
3. Calamari, Who Made an Appearance on ‘The Apprentice’ in 2004, Was Named in a 1995 Lawsuit for False Imprisonment of a Employees’ Wife & Young Child Where he Allegedly Threatened the Family if They Spoke to Police
.
As was reported by Buzzfeed News, Calamari and other Trump security staff are alleged to have threatened, attacked and held the wife and child of the Trump building superintendent Daut “Bob” Bajrushi in 1995 as the man was hospitalized and sent his wife to retrieve documents from his office. Bajrushi was set to appear before the Trump board of directors to allege misappropriation of funds when he took ill and sent his wife to gather records.
The complaint obtained by Buzzfeed, was filed in New York State Supreme Court alleges that Calamari, and Trump’s brother-in-law James Grau, who is married to his sister Elizabeth, as well as other Trump employees Dominic Pezza and Michael Nicole, broke into Bajrushi’s office while his wife and child were there and commenced to interrogate, push, and threaten the woman, who court papers say fainted. Her child was also pushed, the suit alleges. And, the pair were held for more than an hour until police arrived after Bajrushi, who’d called his office, had someone call the police.
4. Calamari Jr., Followed in His Father’s Footsteps & Joined the Trump Organization as Security & Was Promoted & Now Oversees All Security for Trump World
Matthew Calamrai Jr. began working for the Trump Organization in 2011 as a security officer. In 2016, he was promoted to Director of surveillance.”
In April of 2017, Calamari, Jr. was named Corporate Director of Security.
In the photo from April 2018, the aforementioned Trump Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg can be seen standing at the ned on the far left. Calamari Jr.’s father is also pictured.
5. A Composite Photo of the Man Stormy Daniels Alleged Threatened Her on Behalf of Trump Some Said Resembled Calamari, Jr. Others said the Composite Looked Like Daniels’ Former Boyfriend
When Stormy Daniels sat with authorities to describe the man she said threatened her and her child if she went public about her affair with Trump, carried on while Melania Trump was pregnant with their son Baron, the sketch, some said, was the spitting image of Trump’s new security guy, Matthew Calamari Jr.