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€
I think Trump’s mob connections will be the theme the MSM will use to bork him. And it will be nasty. Maybe the nastiest sustained attack ever on a Presidential nominee.
FDR had to pay off THE MOB during WW2 as they were refusing to load our ships bound for Britain.
Trump needed to get work done in NYC - no difference.
Topped of by a DOJ RICO indictment a week before the general...
Not ONLY has Trump been slimed by being baselessly ACCUSED of being “close” to the mob, but I HEARD that Trump once pulled the pigtails of a playmate one time on the playground when he was in first grade.
So I wonder if Trump shared all the judges and politicians he had in his pocket with other “business acquaintances”...
I totally believe this.
And it will all come up if we are foolish enough to give Trump the nomination.
It might cost us Bernie Sanders.
There is so much dirt on Trump from his wheeling dealing to his womanizing.
None of you people are denying Trump’s mob connections because you can’t.
Just because you use the word ‘sleaze’ in the same sentence as Ted Cruz, doesn’t mean anything.
It’s schoolyard talk.
How else do you build a large hotel and casino in a major urban area that will employ thousands of union workers?
One has to be close to the mob to even sit at the table.
Bernie Sanders may fall down on us ... don’t worry about the sky.
Trump has more baggage than an overbooked AA flight and it’s all being collected right now and firmly in the coffers of Hillary Clinton.
And maybe poor old Bernie will get wind of it.
The Cruz slime machine makes me want to puke, too.
Okay, I get it.
You defend and excuse street language used in public.
You defend and excuse a sordid history of womanizing.
And now you defend and excuse mob connections.
Well, all righty then.
Sweetie, you are backing a loser.
Everything can and will be thrown at Trump.
If not by the people you so kindly refer to as ‘Cruz bots’
then by the democrats in the general.
Mrs. Grundy has spoken.
Everyone give up on Trump, NOW!
What fun for you.
Did you make any shady deals or just eat?
You’d better stop now... among Trump’s followers, mob ties add to his cool points total.
Donald Trump addressed this some months ago, I saw the interview when this was asked.
Trump admitted that he probably did as did every developer and builder in New York City.
The Mob back in the 1970’s and 80’s controlled the Unions, Waste Hauling and most especially the cement companies.
Trump said in NYC there were only three cement companies to deal with and the one he used could pour something like 2 or 3 floors a day and they did great work.
So the short answer is that yes Mr. Trump did business with the mob controlled companies just like everyone else did.
I’m glad I’m not as cynical as you.
There are good people left.
We have a chance to nominate one.
But some would rather have The Don.
Trump’s the only chance against the majority of voters who are latched on the government tit. Because of that majority it will take a non status quo, nonconventional republican, one who can capture crossover and independent votes to have a ghost of a chance. No one on the Republican side will win the votes needed to overcome the parasite vote except Trump.
Trump is ready for Hillary. He will pulverize her.
I never liked any of those mob movies.
What was the attraction?
For years I never saw any of the Godfather movies until I was practically forced to watch the original in a screenplay class.
I thought is was a very sad movie.
I don’t admire that lifestyle, although it seems to be big here.
I heard that Trump’s real name is Tony Soprano
/s
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