Former Trump campaign adviser indicted for trying to buy a job in the administration

Yet another former Trump adviser has been indicted thanks to the Mueller probe.

Stephen Calk, a bank CEO and former economic adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday for allegedly approving $16 million in shady loans to now-convicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in exchange for a role in the Trump administration.

The indictment was the product of a criminal referral from Mueller’s investigation — making Calk now the 35th person indicted as a result of Mueller’s probe.

“As alleged, Stephen M. Calk abused the power entrusted to him as the top official of a federally insured bank by approving millions of dollars in high-risk loans in an effort to secure a personal benefit, namely an appointment as Secretary of the Army or another similarly high-level position in the incoming presidential administration,” Deputy U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss wrote in a news release announcing the indictment.

Calk’s attempt to bribe Manafort for a role in the Trump administration came to light during Manafort’s trial in Virginia last year. However, Calk had not been indicted until Thursday.

Calk’s indictment is a sign that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation will continue to haunt Trump.

Mueller’s report said that he made 14 criminal referrals throughout his investigation, only two of which were previously known: Those of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig.

With Calk’s indictment, there are now 11 remaining criminal referrals from Mueller’s probe that have yet to be made public.

Calk, for his part, never received a job in the Trump administration.

However, Trump’s choice to associate himself with a man who would engage in such blatantly criminal behavior is yet another sign of his poor judgement as a leader.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.