INTO THE FRYING PAN

Trump’s Ex-Bodyguard Under Investigation as New York Probe Intensifies: WSJ

Matthew Calamari, now a top executive at the Trump Org, and his son, who heads up security at the company, have already lawyered up.

Manhattan prosecutors are looking into potential criminal wrongdoing by the Trump Organization’s chief operating officer and his son, probing whether the two illegally received tax-free perks from the former president’s real-estate development company, according to The Wall Street Journal. Matthew Calamari, who began his career at the Trump Organization as Donald Trump’s personal bodyguard, and his son Matthew Jr., the Trump Org’s director of security, recently hired their own attorney, according to sources cited by the Journal. Until then, the pair had been represented by a lawyer who was also working for other Trump employees, one of the sources told the paper, which said the move could indicate that authorities have taken an interest in Calamaris senior and junior in addition to Trump Organization CFO Barry Weisselberg, who is reportedly being investigated on similar grounds.

Calamari père reportedly lives in an apartment at Trump Park Avenue, while Calamari fils lives in Trump Parc East, both luxury buildings in Manhattan owned by Trump. In most circumstances, receiving such fringe benefits without paying taxes on them is a crime. However, the Journal pointed out, authorities rarely prosecute on this charge alone. Neither Calamari nor Weisselberg have been charged with any crimes.