Posted on 02/10/2016 3:12:00 PM PST by TBP
Trump was building his eponymous empire of hotels, casinos, and high rises in the early 1980s in New York City and Atlantic City. In both places, the construction industry was firmly under the thumb of the mafia. And in both places there are literally concrete connections between La Cosa Nostra and Trump’s lavish projects. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, who has covered Trump for decades, has written a very useful list of questions for Trump. Many focus on his ties to the mob. In addition in his 1992 book, “Trump, The Deals and the Downfall,†author Wayne Barrett lays out a slew of suspicious dealings and associations.
The Atlantic City story starts with Trump’s purchase of a bar, at twice its market value, from Salvatore Testa, a made man in the Philadelphia mafia and son of Philip “Chicken Man†Testa, who was briefly head of the Philly mob after Angelo Bruno’s 1980 killing. Harrah’s casino, half owned by Trump, would be built on that land, and Trump would quickly buy out his partner, Harrah’s Entertainment, and rename the casino Trump Plaza.
Trump Plaza’s connection to the mob didn’t end with the land purchase from Testa. Nicademo “Little Nicky†Scarfo (who became boss after the elder Testa was blown up) and his nephew Phillip “crazy Phil†Leonetti controlled two of the major construction and concrete companies in Atlantic City. Both companies, Scarf, Inc. and Nat Nat, did work on the construction of Harrah’s, according the State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation’s 1986 report on organized crime. In addition, Scarfo, whose reign as head of the Philly mob was one of the bloodiest in history, controlled the bartenders union, which represented Trump’s workers in Atlantic City, according to George Anastasia’s book, “Blood and Honor.â€
One more link to organized crime lurks in Trump’s past Atlantic City dealings. He had a close association with Kenny Shapiro, an investment banker for Scarfo. According to secret recordings of then Scarfo attorney Robert F. Simone, Shapiro was intimately involved with bribing Atlantic City Mayor Michael J. Matthews, whose term would end in 1984 with a conviction on extortion charges. On the tapes, in 1983, Simone, talking about Leonetti, states: “He’s a nice-looking boy…Nicky’s nephew, he can sit with the…mayor. Ah, and Kenny’s (Shapiro) got the mayor through this kid Phillip.â€
Trumpettes don’t care. They want a mobster I think.
hmmmmm......Marco has a string of mistresses (unless he’s gay) and Trump is a made member of La Cosa Nostra.
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Trump can’t be a made guy because his mom and dad aren’t sicilian. But he does a lot of business with the mob.
The “mob” is known to be aggressively patriotic.
After all, this is their country, as well. If it goes down, they may not come out very well.
I don’t care...
Not as close as Hillary and nowhere near as close as Obama is to the Back Panthers and the #BLM and ISIS terrorists
Not as close as Hillary and nowhere near as close as Obama is to the BLack Panthers and the #BLM and ISIS terrorists
I hope he was close to the mob, he will need some guidos to help fight off the commies. At least mob guys are patriotic!
balderdash
a better and real question is how close was Trump to Rudy Giuliani ?
we know......very close and still close
How bout a conviction? From the article linkedin the OP:
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“Another issue that needs to be addressed in Trump’s New York operations is the use of undocumented Polish workers to demolish the Bonwit Teller building, which made way for the Trump Tower. Only a handful of union workers from Housewreckers Local 95 were employed on the site, the vast majority were illegal Polish alien workers, toiling under inhumane conditions, and wildly underpaid. Trump and his associates were found guilty in 1991 of conspiring to avoid paying pension and welfare fund contributions.
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Got a twofer here conviction and hiring illegal aliens.
THis story will break if Trump gets the nomination. Count on it. Say hi to Pres DemoRAT
If this had legs, Cruz would be using it or his Super PAC's would be all over it.
Not sure why he would be holding back.
If this had legs, Cruz would be using it or his Super PAC’s would be all over it.
Not sure why he would be holding back.
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What indicates he “has” the story? You can’t bet the rats have the story since rats have run Philly and NYC for many years.
I love one of the earlier posters, “even if there is a mob” funny stuff.
For those who caught the reference to the “Chicken Man” and the mob wars a great cover of the Springsteen song “Atlantic City” by The Band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiGhQO4OPx0
“They blew the chicken man in Philly last Night
and blew up his house too”
“Kasich is a space alien who has secretly been dating a wombat on the side?”
Hmmmmmm...have you taken a really close look at Kasich?
>>> What’s next? Bernie eats barbecued puppy dogs? <<<
Don’t insult Bernie!
From what I’ve been reading from the Trump and Cruz fans, Bernie might be the only candidate left.
If you think that you are seriously on the wrong forum.
Politics is most definitely a contact sport, and sometimes a blood sport. We’ve been through this before.
It is very much American!
Trump was a builder and a real estate tycoon. He hired companies to do the construction, and the mob took a piece. Trump has called NYC contractors scum, and he is probably right.
But notice the left doesn't connect the dots between the unions, the mob, and the 99% of the political donations from organized labor going to the Democrat party?
If I had a choice, I'd rather have the Mafia running this country instead of our current administration. I doubt we'd be reading much about ISIS other than obituaries........
LOL!
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