The Heat Is On. Who’s Going To Flip First, Trump’s CFO Or His Former Bodyguard?

The game’s afoot. This is all coming to fruition as expected, no surprises. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that prosecutors in New York are investigating whether former Trump bodyguard Matthew Calamari received tax-free fringe benefits and didn’t pay taxes on those perks. This is a key development, going after Calimari, because only one of these parties high up in the Trump organization, Allen Weisselberg or Calimari can get immunity and that’s the big prize.

Prosecutors’ interest in Mr. Calamari, once Mr. Trump’s bodyguard, indicates that their probe into the Trump Organization’s alleged practice of providing some employees with cars and apartments extends beyond Allen Weisselberg, the company’s chief financial officer, and his family. Neither Messrs. Calamari and Weisselberg, nor anyone else connected to the company, has been accused of wrongdoing.

Receiving benefits—such as free apartments, subsidized rent or car leases—from an employer, and not paying taxes on such benefits, can be a crime, although experts said prosecutors rarely bring cases on such perks alone.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has for months been pressuring Mr. Weisselberg to cooperate in its investigation, but there is no indication prosecutors have been successful so far, the people said. Mr. Vance’s office, in coordination with the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, has said it is working on a broader criminal probe into potential bank, insurance or tax fraud by the Trump Organization and its officers.

There is no indication so far that Weisselberg has flipped, that’s true. But this most recent development is pushing him in that direction. Either he or Caimari will be the first domino to fall.

2) Weisselberg and Calimari presumably know each other’s dirty secrets. So once one flips, the other will be screwed and will also have to strongly consider flipping.

— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) June 22, 2021

4) There’s a question of whether any of Trump’s kids would be willing to flip on him. There’s also a question of whether their testimony is even necessary to take Trump down, and whether they SHOULD be given immunity / leniency given that Trump is likely going down anyway.

— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) June 22, 2021

6) Keep in mind prosecutors don’t NEED any of these people in order to take Trump down. There’s a reason they’re going after him on financial crimes; they’re right there on paper. Flipping people is a matter of making the case even more bulletproof, just in case.

— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) June 22, 2021

8) Anyway, back to the timeline. If prosecutors can’t get Weisselberg / Calimari to flip soon, they’ll indict and arrest them in order to put more pressure on them to flip. That’s when the fun begins, because handcuffs tend to spur people into panicked decisions.

— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) June 22, 2021

9) Today’s media leaks make clear that prosecutors are running very short on patience. The kicker is that if someone does cut a deal (or already has cut a deal), we may not know it for a bit, until they’ve testified. Arrests are more fun, but plea deals are more productive.

— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) June 22, 2021

That is a pretty straightforward summary of the possibilities here. That was written two days ago, before the investigation of Calimari was formally announced.

Now the naysayers are saying that neither Weisselberg nor Calimari will flip, because they’ve both been with Trump for 40 years. They’re both said to fear the rancor of the Trump crowd, that they might literally be torn to shreds on the street. That could be. It’s conjecture at this point what will happen next, but it’s evident that a tight squeeze play is taking place.

This is the story to watch. July starts next week. The soothsayers have been predicting the end of August as the deadline for Weisselberg being indicted and flipping and maybe that timetable has just moved up.