2016 Postmortem

highplainsdem

(48,981 posts) Wed Oct 19, 2016, 08:37 AM Oct 2016

The Drug Trafficker Donald Trump Risked His Casino Empire to Protect

From David Cay Johnston at The Daily Beast:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/19/the-drug-trafficker-donald-trump-risked-his-casino-empire-to-protect.html

Trump presents himself as the most ardent law-and-order politician ever. Yet throughout his adult life Trump sought out—and worked closely with—more than a score of criminals, including Mafia associates, Russian mob associates, violent felons, con artists, swindlers, and most significant of all, the embezzler and mob associate Joseph Weichselbaum, a thrice-convicted felon.

Long ago, when Trump was the big man in Atlantic City, he got his helicopters to bring his high-rollers in and out of town through a company formed by Weichselbaum, to whom he also entrusted maintenance of the Ivana, Trump’s personal helicopter. Spy, a satirical magazine that often made fun of Trump, reported that Weichselbaum—at that point a twice-convicted felon—personally piloted the Trumps in that copter.

Weichselbaum also had another business: importing drugs from Colombia and shipping them from Bradford Motors, a Miami-area car dealership he partly owned, to Cincinnati.

-snip-

Wednesday evening, debate moderator Chris Wallace will have the opportunity to ask Trump why he stood by this convicted felon, risking his casino empire in the process.

Until Trump offers real answers, we have no way of knowing whether he simply displayed the kind of bad judgement he attributes to Clinton or was knowingly involved in Weichselbaum’s drug business.

Much of this was also covered in Johnston's new book on Trump, but this will be new for those who haven't read that book, and it's fascinating -- and damning.

And this part of Trump's background should have been highlighted by the media long ago.

5 replies

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Highlight:

The Drug Trafficker Donald Trump Risked His Casino Empire to Protect (Original Post) highplainsdem Oct 2016 OP

Trump sued to stop Steve Wynn from getting connector ext. built, to keep monopoloy on roadway. TheBlackAdder Oct 2016 #1

You forgot the Chinese Triads.. mrJJ Oct 2016 #2

This article just showed up as the top news about Trump on Twitter highplainsdem Oct 2016 #3

Joan Walsh just asked why Johnston is the only one covering this. highplainsdem Oct 2016 #4

go david kay johnston. mopinko Oct 2016 #5

TheBlackAdder

(28,201 posts)

1. Trump sued to stop Steve Wynn from getting connector ext. built, to keep monopoloy on roadway.

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Wed Oct 19, 2016, 08:45 AM

Oct 2016

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_City%E2%80%93Brigantine_Connector

The Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector was initially planned in 1995 to provide a direct connection between the Atlantic City Expressway and the Brigantine area. Construction of the road was completed in 2001 at a total cost of $330 million (equivalent to $441 million in 2016). Before the Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector was planned, Mirage Resorts president Steve Wynn acquired a piece of land near the northern end of the proposed connector and planned for a direct exit ramp to a proposed casino called Le Jardin. Donald Trump, the chief executive officer of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, who owned the nearby Trump Marina (now Golden Nugget), took legal action against the state for the proposed ramp to Wynn's casino. Despite the legal concerns, construction on the connector began in 1998. Wynn's proposed casino, Le Jardin, was canceled following the acquisition of Mirage Resorts by MGM Grand Inc., which, as the MGM Mirage company, proposed the Borgata casino. Meanwhile, Trump's casino received a direct ramp from the connector.
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The total cost of the project was $330 million (equivalent to $441 million in 2016)[27] and was funded by various state-operated agencies, while one-third of the cost was privately funded by MGM Mirage.

Trump gets a direct roadway, which displaced many people from their homes, and didn't pay for any of the construction. Taxpayers and the Mirage paid for most of it. And, even with a direct road to his casinos, which drops you off right in front of the Taj Mahal, it failed.

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mrJJ

(886 posts)

2. You forgot the Chinese Triads..

Reply to highplainsdem (Original post)

Wed Oct 19, 2016, 08:51 AM

Oct 2016

Flashback: September 25, 1995

TRUMP SUPPORTS CASINO SUSPECT

Donald Trump has employed a known Asian organized crime figure at his Taj Mahal casino for five years and is defending him against attempts to yank his license, law enforcement officials say. The New Jersey Casino Control Commission begins three days of hearings in Atlantic City today on the background and character of Danny Leung, a former Taj vice president who still runs junkets for the casino. Leung was identified by the U.

S. Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations in 1991 as a member of the 14K Triad, a Hong Kong group linked to murders, extortions and heroin smuggling. The commission granted Leung the key license reserved for executives in 1989, five years after Canadian police said he was a major player in Toronto organized crime. His license was routinely renewed every year until May 1994, when the Atlantic City Press published the Senate findings. Leung has continued to operate without the license while awaiting hearings. Trump is not himself scheduled to testify on Leung's behalf at the hearing, but he is sending Taj President Dennis Gomes to do that. Neither would comment to the Daily News. Leung's lawyer, Guy Michael, said last week that the criminal allegations are "absolutely untrue

more: http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/trump-supports-casino-suspect-article-1.692948