Former GOP gov, former Senator, mobbed up Reagan confidant. Make no mistake, the bulk of gambling related contributions go to the GOP--they are seen as more PRO BUSINESS than the Dems.
http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/articles/27/27-409.htmThe casino will have 800 slot machines, 13 table games and about 600 employees. Rooms will rent in the $40-a-night range. In other gaming decisions Thursday, the commission recommended a permanent license for former Lt. Gov. Bob Cashell to run the Ormsby House casino in Carson City. Cashell has been operating the casino, built by former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., under a two-year license. During the hearing, Cashell said the new owners of the hotel would put $8 million to $10 million into its renovation.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:lEd8Kj8ViDAJ:www.policestudies.eku.edu/POTTER/International/Reagan.htm+paul+laxalt,+gambling+casinos&hl=enSenator Paul Laxalt: Paul Laxalt, the former Governor and Senator from Nevada, was Ronald Reagan's "closest friend and most trusted advisor" (Wall Street Journal, June 20, 1983: 1). Laxalt, who met with Reagan two or three times a week, was described in the press as the "first friend," and Reagan's "eyes and ears" in the United States Senate (Friedman, 1984; Condon, 1983; Waas, 1984). Senator Laxalt had served as Reagan's campaign manager in 1976, 1980, and 1984 and had delivered the nominating speeches for Reagan at the Republican National Conventions in those years (Friedman, 1984: 34; Hamill, 1984: 13).
While Laxalt's White House connections gave the impression of great respectability and power, his other associations were less than savory. Particularly troubling was Laxalt's long-time friendship and political association with Allen Dorfman, the man who had supervised the use of the Teamsters Union's Central States Pension Fund as a private bank for organized crime figures (Moldea, 1978: 7; Time, August 8, 1977: 28; Brill, 1978: chapter 6; Washington Post, January 21, 1983: 1). Laxalt made no secret of his association with Dorfman and his actions on Dorfman's behalf, as the following letter sent to Richard Nixon asking that the incarcerated former Teamster Union president, Jimmy Hoffa, be pardoned indicates:
"Dear President Dick:
The other day I had an extended discussion with Al Dorfman of the Teamsters, with whom I've worked closely for the past few years ... This discussion, which described in detail the personal vendetta that Bobby Kennedy had against Hoffa, together with other information provided me over the years, leads me to the inevitable conclusion that Jim is a victim of Kennedy's revenge" (Moldea, 1986: 260).
Laxalt went on to describe Hoffa as a "political prisoner" and asked Nixon to pardon him on his jury tampering conviction. At several other points in the letter, Laxalt called attention to his friendship with Dorfman, the man who had been named by the Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force as the person "most responsible for turning the Teamster pension fund into a series of mob loans" (Walsh, 1983: A9): "While I don't know Mr. Hoffa personally, I have had the occasion to have a great deal of contact with Mr. Dorfman ..." (Moldea, 1987: 260). Dorfman's role in organized crime was immortalized for all eternity when he was shot down by ski-masked killers in a Chicago parking lot in 1983 (Washington, Post, January 21, 1983: 1). Accompanying Dorfman at the time of his murder was major Chicago organized crime figure Irwin Weiner, who escaped unscathed from the attack (Ibid.).
But Allen Dorfman was not the only organized crime figure who was close to Senator Laxalt. Another major political supporter of Laxalt was the late Moe Dalitz, famous as the head of the notorious Cleveland Four during Prohibition and one of the leading organized crime figures in Las Vegas. When Laxalt was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974, Dalitz boasted that, "Laxalt is my boy, I put him there" (Friedman, 1984: 36). In his two campaigns for the Senate, Laxalt received $50,000 in direct campaign contributions from Dalitz and several of Dalitz's associates who were named by Department of Justice organized crime investigators as organized criminals (Wall Street Journal, June 20, 1983: 1). When the Wall Street Journal investigated Laxalt's ties to Moe Dalitz, Laxalt said, "He's been so decent to me over the years, there's no way - I don't care what the political considerations would be - I would turn my back on him" (Ibid.: 18). Further probing of Laxalt's organized crime connections turns up close relations with still other major organized crime figures:
--Rudy Kolod, a felon who had been convicted of fraud and extortion in 1965 and a man with illicit business dealings involving the Teamsters Union, Meyer Lansky, the Chicago Outfit, and other organized crime groups, was a key fundraiser for Laxalt's 1966 gubernatorial campaign in Nevada (Hamill, 1984: 10). When pressed on his relationship with Kolod, Laxalt said that he "did help us tremendously" (Ibid.; Friedman, 1984: 36).
--The late Sydney Wyman, who contributed heavily to Laxalt's Senatorial campaigns, was a large-scale illegal gambling operator and former business partner of Bugsy Siegel (Walsh, 1983: A8).
--Allen Glick, a Pittsburgh attorney who served as a Las Vegas frontman for both the Chicago Outfit and Meyer Lansky, was also a major Laxalt fundraiser (Ibid.).
--Organized crime operative Al Sachs, who has been identified by Justice Department sources as a major participant in organized crime's illegal casino profiteering and skimming operations, also was a most generous contributor to Laxalt's campaigns (Friedman, 1984: 32-39).
--Campaign funds also came to Laxalt from Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, one the most important organized crime figures in Chicago and a man generally acknowledged as one of the largest "layoff bankers" in the Midwest (Ibid.).
--Morris Shenker, who provided legal representation for the Central States Pension Fund, was a business partner of Meyer Lansky, and according to informants cited by the FBI worked closely with Kansas City organized crime figures, also raised campaign funds for Laxalt (Ibid.).
--Former Texas organized crime figure and entrenched Las Vegas gambling magnate, Benny Binion, also was one of Laxalt's strongest and most charitable supporters (Ibid.). ....
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
