By Dan Murphy
In addition to my duties as a Westchester, N.Y., reporter and editor of a small group of weekly newspapers, I infrequently work on a political campaign or two for an issue that I agree with, or a candidate that I am friends with.
Over the past three years, my friendship with Frank Spotorno, a Yonkers resident and small businessman and elevator manufacturer in Queens, N.Y., has included working on a mutual interest, that our country has lost too many manufacturing jobs and that we need to bring some of those jobs back home to the USA. Frank’s belief in re-shoring jobs from overseas back to America also coincided with the beliefs of a presidential candidate back in 2015.
His name was Donald Trump.
Frank began visiting Trump Tower in the days and weeks after Trump kicked off his presidential campaign June 16, 2015. He began to make friends within the Trump Organization, and knew a few active and retired Trump employees from his work on elevators and in the construction industry in NYC.
Eventually, Frank was introduced to Michael Cohen, who was then the Trump Organization’s vice president and special counsel. Frank volunteered his services to try and help Trump win the presidency. That brief conversation with Cohen led to more discussions and eventually an exchange of cell phone numbers.
Frank’s other strong bond and interest was in protesting against construction projects, builders and developers that did not hire union employees, and Frank was one of many card-carrying union members that could be found protesting outside of development projects with a large, inflatable rat.
In July and August 2015, opponents to Trump and his anti-immigration stances resulted in protests outside of the yet-to-be-opened Trump International Hotel in Washington. Frank was asked to travel to Washington to highlight the fact that the hotel was being built with union labor, and to contrast the Trump opponents with a group of Trump supporters. Frank took the trip to D.C. and rallied in support of Trump and his development projects, most of which used union labor, including the D.C. hotel.
Eventually, the protests against Trump landed in Manhattan, and outside of Trump tower. Frank, fresh off his visit to D.C., proved himself useful to the Trump organization, and was in contact with Cohen and others in the company about rallying outside of Trump tower in support of the presidential candidate and his history of hiring union labor.
Eventually, Frank gave Cohen the phone number of this reporter to try and help coordinate the rally. This was not unusual for me as I had worked on other rallies and events for Frank as a coordinator/press secretary. At the time, Frank was also considering running for Congress in the 14th District against Joe Crowley – yes, the same Joe Crowley who was recently defeated in a Democratic primary by Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.
Frank also gave me Cohen’s cell number and told me to call him to coordinate. I was surprised to find that Cohen answered my phone call on the first attempt – from an unknown 914 area code number.
I briefly explained to Cohen who I was and on behalf of Frank, offered to help. We briefly discussed the protests outside of Trump Tower, and then Cohen spit out the words I will never forget: “We need Frank to get down here with his friends and bring baseball bats,” said Cohen.
I immediately knew what Cohen was asking me to do, but I was stunned and shocked at what he had said, and I wanted to make sure that I had heard him correctly. After a few awkward moments of silenced, I simply replied, “What did you say?”
“Frank should come down here with his guys and bring their baseball bats,” repeated Cohen.
Stunned once again, I replied, “I will speak with Frank and get back to you,” and quickly hung up.
Frank Spotorno is a proud union member, supporter and organizer. He is also a proud Italian-American. Some people view those two parts of Frank as connotating something improper or illegal. Cohen, in my view – and based on what he said to me – believed that Frank would or could do something based on his membership in a union and his heritage.
I took offense to what Cohen had implied in our conversation, and I called Frank and told him what was discussed. Frank was also surprised that he was indirectly being asked to do something that he would never do. Based on Frank’s support for then-candidate Trump, we agreed not to discuss the matter with anyone else and for me not to write about it.
Now, three years later, many things have changed. Donald Trump is president and he is at war with his former deputy, Michael Cohen. According to many media reports, Cohen had a practice of tape recording his conversations with many people, including Trump.
That is ironic to me, because after our conversation I thought about how foolish and reckless Cohen had been during a conversation with someone he never met or knew. I wondered to myself… What if I had recorded the conversation with Cohen?
Frank Spotorno still supports President Trump, and lost his bid for Congress in 2016, losing to Crowley in NYC, as Trump lost NYC to Hillary Clinton. We both agreed that now was the best time to tell our story about Michael Cohen and my uncomfortable conversation with him three years ago.
