Trump discussed Calamari in a civil lawsuit filed by Efrain Galicia, the activist who claimed the incident happened while protesting outside the Trump Tower in 2015. Kalamari, who was later investigated in an unrelated tax fraud investigation and who was hired as Trump’s bodyguard before taking office, is not being tried in person, but was fired as he oversaw the security of his corporate role at the time of the alleged attack. attack. Calamari’s lawyer, Nicolas Gravante, told the Guardian that the Manhattan prosecutor would not press charges against his client. Gravante said Calamari “did absolutely nothing wrong.” Trump, however, is named as the accused. The lawsuit alleges that Trump, his business, his campaign and his security team “undertook these illegal acts by mutual agreement.” He was ordered to provide the deposit last October. Trump also testified that tomatoes could be deadly when thrown at people, answering questions about what he said to the public at a rally in February 2016: “If you see someone getting ready to throw a tomato, just put it on. the carpets. their.” The case of Galicia is one of the many legal challenges facing Trump. This week, he was scorned for not revealing documents in the political investigation by Letitia James, the New York State Attorney General, about whether the Trump Agency mishandled its real estate values in order to obtain favorable loans and tax rebates. Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg also insisted that his office’s investigation into Trump and the Trump Organization was ongoing, despite numerous high-profile resignations due to inaction. In July 2021, the Trump Organization and its former chief financial officer, Allen Weiselberg, were charged with an alleged “sweeping and daring illegal payment scheme.” CNN reported in November that Manhattan prosecutors had no plans to charge Calamari, at least for now, but Trump’s comments provide another glimpse into the former president’s unorthodox involvement in staffing. Trump said in his testimony that he had hired Kalamari about 40 years ago, after he saw him knock down fans in a tennis match. “They had to stop the game because people at the top of the pitch were screaming bad things,” Trump said. “The other security guards did nothing about it. “And Matt went up and watched the whole stadium. “And he spoke to the people, but they were screaming and he was really out of line.” “And I guess they made the first move. But they were chasing him. And he took them back. And what had happened, ended up at the top. “And the stadium was impressed because it was a certain bravery, you know, there was a certain bravery there,” Trump said. “It was not a big fight. It was not a real big fight. He just, you know, took them – and put them either to calm down or I think he took them out. “I think he took them off the pitch.” Trump also said he was responsible for promoting Calamari from security to corporate governance and that he had “authority” to compensate him. Lawyers in Galicia also asked Trump about his statement to attendees to “hit the shit” on anyone preparing to throw a tomato at the 2016 rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “It was very dangerous,” Trump said. “They were going to throw fruit. “They threatened us, we had a threat.” He added: “It’s worse than a tomato, there are other things. But tomatoes, when they start doing these things, are very dangerous. There was an alarm that day. “It was a bit of a joke,” he added of his comment on the tomato. “But maybe, you know, a little truth in that. These are very dangerous things. “You can be killed with these things.” Trump also described pineapples and bananas as “dangerous things.” Trump also defended Keith Schiller, the then-head of security, for actions during the protest. Galicia claims that Schiller punched him. “He did nothing wrong,” Trump said of Schiller. Trump’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gravante challenged the portrayal of the 1981 US Open as a “match”. Kalamari, then a college football player, had been hired for a temporary security position through his coach. One day in the tournament, Kalamari was asked to remove the naughty fans from the venue, as their ridiculousness had interrupted the match. They did not come voluntarily, so Kalamari “had to face him and take him off the field, with applause from everyone in that field who saw what was happening, and then the match could continue,” Gravante said. Because Kalamari handled the situation “so perfectly”, he was honored among the “invisible heroes” of the US Open during a ceremony in 1982. At that point, Trump asked the US Open’s security chief the athlete’s phone number and whether the athlete wanted a job, which eventually led to the hiring of Kalamari. Gravante said that if Trump described the events in match-language language, it was not “an accurate description of what happened at the US Open that day.”
