New York Daily News

‘TEE’ AS IN TROUBLE

Undocument­ed-immig claim at W’chester club rips Donald’s Twitter guru

- BY CHRIS SOMMERFELD­T

The White House Twitter wrangler oversaw workers he knew were undocument­ed immigrants while managing President Trump’s tony Westcheste­r County golf club, ex-employees say — and the New York attorney general is looking into the allegation­s, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Dan Scavino, the White House social media director who helps the President craft his tweets, used to be the general manager of the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor and supervised the upscale estate’s day-to-day operations — including the hiring of immigrants with fake employment papers, three former undocument­ed workers told the Daily News this week.

Gabriel Sedano, a Mexican national who worked at the club from 2005 until he was fired last month along with dozens of other immigrant employees at Trump properties in New York and New Jersey, said he knew of at least 30 workers at the Westcheste­r club who were there without proper documentat­ion.

Sedano said Scavino — like other managers — knew of their illegal status but looked the other way.

“He was involved in the hiring,” Sedano said. “If they needed more people, he would always have to say yes because he was the general manager. Everything went up to him.”

The social media director has not been accused of setting up immigrants with phony documents.

Anibal Romero, an attorney who represents Sedano and 25 other immigrants, said he’s been in contact with New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office about the allegation­s. A source familiar with the matter said James’ office is on a fact-finding mission. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed the AG has not formally opened an investigat­ion and declined to comment on the specific claims about Scavino.

A spokeswoma­n for the AG declined to comment.

It’s a crime to knowingly employ an immigrant unauthoriz­ed to work in the U.S.

Scavino — who started out working as Trump’s golf caddie in the 1990s — was first employed by the Westcheste­r club in 2004 as an assistant manager and quickly climbed the ladder to become general manager.

As GM, Scavino supervised the club’s department managers but would still interact with low-level staffers, according to Sedano and two other former workers, housekeepe­r

benefits, better raises and even promotions, according to Sedano, Cruz and DeLeon.

They said the disparitie­s were a result of their undocument­ed status. They also said this fact was widely known around the club.

“We would always talk about it,” DeLeon said and alleged Scavino himself was once in the room when such conversati­ons took place.

In contrast, an ad recently posted to Facebook by a club manager states workers will receive “health/dental” benefits “once qualified.”

In addition to benefits and wage inequities, Sedano recalled there was a particular system in place to prevent undocument­ed immigrants from driving the club trucks.

Hispanic employees were never asked to drive because it was assumed they didn’t have licenses, as a valid Social Security number is generally required to obtain them, Sedano said. The undocument­ed workers either used fake Social Security numbers or ones obtained from other people, according to Sedano.

On one particular occasion, Sedano and some of his coworkers were asked to transport a grill and a golf cart to Scavino’s home.

But when Sedano asked for keys to a truck, his maintenanc­e manager shut him down.

“You can’t drive the car because you’re not on the list,” Sedano recalled the manager as saying.

Sedano said Scavino and other managers were privy to this list.

Scavino, who could not be reached for comment, left the Trump club to join the President’s 2016 campaign as its social media liaison. He was tapped as the chief social media director after Trump’s election. The White House declined to comment and referred to the Trump Organizati­on, which did not return requests for comment.

The News has previously reported the New Jersey attorney general’s office — with assistance from the FBI — is looking into similar allegation­s of immigratio­n fraud at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedministe­r.

At that club, immigrant workers allege management would set them up with fraudulent work papers. Sedano, DeLeon and Cruz say they obtained their fake documents on their own.

Amid intense media attention, the Trump clubs fired scores of undocument­ed employees at their properties last month, as first reported by The Washington Post. The Trump Organizati­on has denied any knowledge of the workers’ illegal status.

Margarita Cruz and landscaper Juventino DeLeon.

“He always mentioned that he started from the bottom,” Sedano said.

“He told me many times, ‘You’re doing a good job.’ ”

But compliment­s aside, Sedano said he was never offered benefits or health insurance while his documented colleagues were. Cruz and DeLeon said they weren’t offered benefits either.

Sedano’s pay stubs, which were reviewed by The News, confirm he didn’t have insurance. It’s unclear if Scavino made the decision not to provide benefits for the undocument­ed workers.

Additional­ly, Sedano’s wage was only raised from $17 to $23 over the course of his entire 14-year employment there, which the pay stubs also reflect.

Meanwhile, workers who had legal status were given

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