Trump pleads with employees as NY prosecutors look to crack ‘mob-like code of silence’: report

New York prosecutors are attempting to exploit a "Shakespearean" internal conflict at the Trump Organization between two rival dynasties, as they aim to crack the company's "mob-like code of silence," according to a new report from the Daily Beast.

Former president Donald Trump, aware of prosecutors' strategy, has been reminding employees to "stick together" and stay strong, according to the report.

The internal conflict pits the Weisselberg family — whose patriarch, Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, has been indicted in a 15-year tax-fraud scheme — and the Calamari family, led by Chief Operating Officer Matthew Calamari Sr.

"They hate each other. It's a war," Allen Weisselberg's former daughter-in-law, Jennifer, who has become a witness for New York prosecutors, recently told the Daily Beast.

Trump himself has always seemed to be New York prosecutors' chief target in the ongoing probe, but in order to get him, they'll need his right-hand finance man, Weisselberg, to flip, according to the report.

In order to get Weisselberg to flip, prosecutors are attempting to leverage the CFO's assistant, company controller and accountant Jeffrey S. McConney. So investigators have been trying to get Calamari's son, Matty Jr., to provide damning information about McConney, who prepared his individual taxes.

According to the report, it has become "common knowledge" in the upper echelon of Trump's business and personal circles that prosecutors are attempting to exploit the rivalry between the two families.

"It's gotten so apparent that, in multiple meetings and phone calls since the spring, Donald Trump has reminded business associates and other members of his inner orbit about the need for Trump Organization staff to 'stick together' and stay strong, according to two other people familiar with the matter," the Daily Beast reported. "The enmity between the Weisselbergs and Calamaris dates back decades, and it centers on their unwavering love of Trump. Two longtime associates described a Shakespearean conflict of rival dynasties, with dukes competing for the king's favor."

Earlier this week, Weisselberg's attorney said in court that he has "strong reason to believe there could be other indictments coming" in the investigation — which prosecutors have been aggressively pursuing.

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