Berl Falbaum
One of the sacred tenets in organized crime is the principle of omertá — the code of silence.
Its members live or die — literally — by a pledge to keep one’s mouth shut to outsiders, particularly law enforcement authorities and, of course, the media.
It appears the media have endorsed omertá, in the last few years, as it pertains to Donald Trump and his relationship with organized crime.
Nary a word has been written about the former president’s connections with the underworld despite the fact that through the years there have been numerous references to Trump’s relationship to organized crime. The issue has not been vetted.
Here is a very brief summary of the few writers who have touched on the subject:
In July 2015, CNN Politics reported, “Donald Trump’s glittering empire of New York skyscrapers and Atlantic City casinos have long had a darker side, allegations that the mob helped built them. Trump’s alleged ties to Philadelphia crime families go back decades and have been recounted in a book, newspapers and in government records.”
In PolitiFact, February 28, 2016, it was published that Trump made a deal in Atlantic City with Kenneth Shapiro, an associate of mob boss Nicky Scarfo, and mob-connected labor boss Daniel Sullivan.
Trump seemed aware of the questionable backgrounds of his partners, calling Shapiro “a third-rate, local real estate Mafia” and Sullivan “the guy who killed [Teamster leader] Jimmy Hoffa.”
PolitiFact added, “Trump’s business dealings with the mob or mob-related characters are widely documented.”
In the same story, PolitiFact reported that Texas Senator Ted Cruz (yes, the one that can’t praise Trump enough) raised concern about Trump’s business associates stating on Meet the Press:
“There have been multiple media reports about Donald’s business dealings with the mob, with the Mafia. Maybe his taxes show those business dealings are a lot more extensive than has been reported.”
In Politico Magazine May 22, 2016, David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winner, said Trump bought concrete and other materials for his developments from companies controlled by Mafia-chieftains. “I’ve covered Donald Trump off and on for 27 years and in that time, I’ve encountered multiple threads linking Trump to organized crime…I’m not the only one who has picked up signals over the years.”
Wayne Barrett, a New York investigative journalist who wrote an unauthorized biography, “Trump: The Deals and the Downfall,” stated “The mob connections to Donald are extraordinarily extensive. Trump’s life intervenes with the underworld.”
The Wall Street Journal in 2016, wrote under the headline, “Donald Trump and the Mob,” the following: “His real estate developments in Atlantic City and New York brought the GOP nominee in regular contact with people who had ties to organized crime.” Trump responded he “is the cleanest guy there is.”
USA Today, in March 2017, reported that the then-president and his companies have been linked to at least 10 wealthy former Soviet businessmen with alleged ties to criminal organizations or money laundering.
Haaretz (an Israeli newspaper), March 2017: The FBI wiretapped Trump Towers but its target was not the future president of the United States and the operation was over well before Donald Trump even declared his candidacy.
Instead, the bureau was listening in on a Russian crime organization that worked out of offices on the building’s 63rd floor, just three stories below Trump’s penthouse. As reported by ABC News: the FBI had the building under surveillance, including electronic monitoring, from 2011 to 2013.
While Trump denied doing business in Russia, in 2018, The New York Times published the following statement from Trump’s son, Donald Jr., which he made while speaking at a New York real estate conference 10 years earlier: “And in terms of high-end product influx into the U.S., Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. Say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo, and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
Might that be just one reason Trump is so chummy with Vladimir Putin.
One real estate broker said she sold 65 condos in Trump World (residential condominium building) in Manhattan to Russian investors many of whom sought meetings with Trump given his business expertise.
In July 22, 2020, Esquire Magazine’s Gabrielle Bruney wrote that, “Trump had a personal connection with some of the city’s most powerful mobsters through his friend and mentor Roy Cohn, who worked for the notorious Senator Joseph McCarthy, and also represented New York mobsters. Some described Cohn as one of the malignant figures in 20th century America.”
Mother Jones, in an article by David Corn, September 23, 2016, reported that “No other presidential candidate has had such an extensive and publicly known record of business deals with mob associates — and of making false and contradictory statements to keep these dirty connections from becoming a major campaign controversy.”
The above is just the tip of the organized crime Trump iceberg.
Yet, the media have not scrutinized the evidence and we can surmise that organized crime is very grateful to the press for abiding by omertá.
Its members live or die — literally — by a pledge to keep one’s mouth shut to outsiders, particularly law enforcement authorities and, of course, the media.
It appears the media have endorsed omertá, in the last few years, as it pertains to Donald Trump and his relationship with organized crime.
Nary a word has been written about the former president’s connections with the underworld despite the fact that through the years there have been numerous references to Trump’s relationship to organized crime. The issue has not been vetted.
Here is a very brief summary of the few writers who have touched on the subject:
In July 2015, CNN Politics reported, “Donald Trump’s glittering empire of New York skyscrapers and Atlantic City casinos have long had a darker side, allegations that the mob helped built them. Trump’s alleged ties to Philadelphia crime families go back decades and have been recounted in a book, newspapers and in government records.”
In PolitiFact, February 28, 2016, it was published that Trump made a deal in Atlantic City with Kenneth Shapiro, an associate of mob boss Nicky Scarfo, and mob-connected labor boss Daniel Sullivan.
Trump seemed aware of the questionable backgrounds of his partners, calling Shapiro “a third-rate, local real estate Mafia” and Sullivan “the guy who killed [Teamster leader] Jimmy Hoffa.”
PolitiFact added, “Trump’s business dealings with the mob or mob-related characters are widely documented.”
In the same story, PolitiFact reported that Texas Senator Ted Cruz (yes, the one that can’t praise Trump enough) raised concern about Trump’s business associates stating on Meet the Press:
“There have been multiple media reports about Donald’s business dealings with the mob, with the Mafia. Maybe his taxes show those business dealings are a lot more extensive than has been reported.”
In Politico Magazine May 22, 2016, David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winner, said Trump bought concrete and other materials for his developments from companies controlled by Mafia-chieftains. “I’ve covered Donald Trump off and on for 27 years and in that time, I’ve encountered multiple threads linking Trump to organized crime…I’m not the only one who has picked up signals over the years.”
Wayne Barrett, a New York investigative journalist who wrote an unauthorized biography, “Trump: The Deals and the Downfall,” stated “The mob connections to Donald are extraordinarily extensive. Trump’s life intervenes with the underworld.”
The Wall Street Journal in 2016, wrote under the headline, “Donald Trump and the Mob,” the following: “His real estate developments in Atlantic City and New York brought the GOP nominee in regular contact with people who had ties to organized crime.” Trump responded he “is the cleanest guy there is.”
USA Today, in March 2017, reported that the then-president and his companies have been linked to at least 10 wealthy former Soviet businessmen with alleged ties to criminal organizations or money laundering.
Haaretz (an Israeli newspaper), March 2017: The FBI wiretapped Trump Towers but its target was not the future president of the United States and the operation was over well before Donald Trump even declared his candidacy.
Instead, the bureau was listening in on a Russian crime organization that worked out of offices on the building’s 63rd floor, just three stories below Trump’s penthouse. As reported by ABC News: the FBI had the building under surveillance, including electronic monitoring, from 2011 to 2013.
While Trump denied doing business in Russia, in 2018, The New York Times published the following statement from Trump’s son, Donald Jr., which he made while speaking at a New York real estate conference 10 years earlier: “And in terms of high-end product influx into the U.S., Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. Say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo, and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
Might that be just one reason Trump is so chummy with Vladimir Putin.
One real estate broker said she sold 65 condos in Trump World (residential condominium building) in Manhattan to Russian investors many of whom sought meetings with Trump given his business expertise.
In July 22, 2020, Esquire Magazine’s Gabrielle Bruney wrote that, “Trump had a personal connection with some of the city’s most powerful mobsters through his friend and mentor Roy Cohn, who worked for the notorious Senator Joseph McCarthy, and also represented New York mobsters. Some described Cohn as one of the malignant figures in 20th century America.”
Mother Jones, in an article by David Corn, September 23, 2016, reported that “No other presidential candidate has had such an extensive and publicly known record of business deals with mob associates — and of making false and contradictory statements to keep these dirty connections from becoming a major campaign controversy.”
The above is just the tip of the organized crime Trump iceberg.
Yet, the media have not scrutinized the evidence and we can surmise that organized crime is very grateful to the press for abiding by omertá.
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