Interesting item with mention of course of J.J Cafaro - this man has
contributed somuch to the Democrat Party but Gore got beat - maybe he
will spend some time in the slammer.

This oh so casual reference to murder but at lest with Traficant - we
know with whom we are dealing and I prefer him to a Condit whom some
thought might be running for higher office in near future - but now he
has no future>

This Cafaro and his link to Klingle Mansion area with the big bucks
involved where they look for Chandra makes me wonder, for evidently this
is a mob burying ground and dumping field - right on their own
turf....keep thinking of Judge Crater and Jimmy Hoffa - for FBI was led
to a farm a short way from my home to look for body of Hoffa - and this
same farm they believed munitions from the Schlumberger robbery were
still buried.....farm where Meyer Lansky spent quite a bit of time as he
was in Ohio and Kentucky looking into oil and gas fields?

So this item while somewhat redundant tells of the type of individuals
we have in Congress.....like the jewish Mafia Hit man who lived on this
farm - got caught murdering black doctor while he wore a Deputy Sheriff
suit assisted by a County Coroner (Asst) who bought the "piece" that
shot same?

US Bureau of Prisons where Chandra worked - it is said she might have
made acquaintance with a former prisoner - well,  look for the killers
within the democrat compound - and then Remember Waco and Ruby Ridge and
the voices of silence when it came to murder by executive order.

Verbal of course.

You wonder why CIA does not want some of this garbage in congress to
know what is going on?

Hoodlums playing "CIA" as if they had the government behind them when
they do not?
After all any unauthorized murders or acts of treason are not to be
dismissed lightly.

CONGRESSMAN JAMES TRAFICANT AND
THE MURDER OF MOBSTER CHARLIE CARABBIA
.
by James Ridgway de Szigethy
..
CONGRESSMAN JAMES TRAFICANT, ONE OF WASHINGTON'S MOST COLORFUL
REPRESENTATIVES, WAS ONCE CONSIDERED LIKELY TO SUCCEED HERO-ASTRONAUT
JOHN GLENN UPON HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE U. S. SENATE. TRAFICANT'S
AMBITION HAS BEEN THWARTED BY EMERGING SCANDALS INVOLVING HIS CLOSEST
ITALIAN MAFIA ASSOCIATES, AS WELL AS BY RENEWED INTEREST IN THE MURDER
OF CLEVELAND MOBSTER CHARLIE "THE CRAB" CARABBIA, WHO GAVE TRAFICANT A
$163,000 BRIBE DURING HIS RACE FOR COUNTY SHERIFF. WHO IS JAMES
TRAFICANT, WHO WAS CHARLIE THE CRAB, AND WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS
MURDER?
CONGRESSMAN TRAFICANT
HAS CHOSEN TO APPEAR ON
HIS WEBSITE (AT LEFT) SHAKING A BAT AND
HAS ALSO ALTERED
HIS IMAGE TO PORTRAY
AN EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
FROM THE PLANET 'VULCA'
ON THE HIT TV SERIES
'STAR TREK!'
The story of how the murder of a Mobster is connected by just one degree
of separation from the hallowed halls of Congress begins on October 6,
1977 in the Cleveland suburb of Lyndhurst, when a quiet shopping center
was shattered by an explosion in the parking lot. One hundred feet from
the epi-center authorities found the arm of a man, one finger encircled
by a ring of gold and 5 emeralds. The arm was soon identified as
belonging to Danny Greene, a flamboyant member of the Irish Mob.
.
THE RELUCTANT GODFATHER
..
This murder was the product of a turf war that began one year earlier
when John Scalish, Godfather of the Cleveland Mob, died after open-heart
surgery. His heir apparent was assumed by most to be "Big Ange" Lonardo,
who assisted Scalish during his remarkable 32 year reign, but Underboss
Milton "Deer Hunter" Rockman astounded everyone with his claim that it
was Scalish' dying wish that "Jack White" Licavoli succeed as Godfather.
The ambitious "Big Ange" coveted the position of Godfather whereas the
elder Licavoli, an unassuming 72-year-old bachelor living a comfortable
old age as head of the Youngstown rackets, did not want the job. No one,
however, wanted to betray the final wish of their respected deceased
leader and "Jack White" reluctantly agreed to assume the position as
head of the Family. The new Godfather named his cousin "Lips" Moceri,
head of the Akron rackets, as Underboss. Some, including Big Ange,
suspected Deer Hunter was lying about the Godfather's "dying wish" and
wanted a head of the family such as the bumbling Jack White whom he
could more easily influence and control. While quietly going along with
this new appointment, many within the Family did not believe that
Licavoli was ruthless enough nor possessing of enough cunning to
effectively perform as Godfather. The job of running a major Mafia
family is an extremely challenging position, requiring a wide range of
inter-personal skills and abilities; among other responsibilities, the
Godfather has the final decision when subordinates request permission to
murder a fellow Mobster. Such life and death decisions can cause anger
and resentment among the family and friends of those selected to be
murdered, sometimes leading to plots to rub out the head and establish a
new Godfather, as would be the fate of Gambino Family Godfather Paul
Castellano. Godfathers also have to exercise leadership in resolving
disputes over territorial rights to member's drug trafficking,
extortion, gambling and stolen property rackets; not an easy task when
one considers that members of organized crime are known for their
eagerness to resort to violence.
.
Then there is the FBI. Those at the top of an organized crime syndicate
are the targets of plots by the FBI and Justice Department to bring them
down, even if it means making "sweetheart" deals with serial murderers
such as "Sammy the Bull" Gravano. Despite the Hollywood hype that
portrays them as ambitious men determined to rise to the top, most
members of the Mob do not aspire to become anything more than a 'Made'
member of the Family who can derive their livelihood from the various
traditional rackets the Mob thrives on. As in the unexpected and
unwanted elevation of the bumbling Claudius as Emperor of Rome, Jack
White Licavoli proved to be an unorthodox and uncertain choice as
Godfather. Unfamiliar with Mafia rules and protocol, it was Big Ange who
had to prompt Licavoli on the traditional behavior expected by members
of both their own Family and the heads of the five ruling Families of
New York City that make up the "Commission," which serves as the "Board
of Directors" of the Mafia. Such apparent incompetence on the part of
Jack White served to spawn plots against his authority by another
faction determined to take over the Ohio rackets. John Nardi, a
high-ranking member of the Teamster's union and his partner Danny Greene
of the Irish Mob led this crew. Greene accepted a contract from Nardi on
the life of Lips Moceri, who then disappeared, his bloodstained car
found abandoned in Akron. His body has never been found.
.
The murder of Lips was a stunning personal blow to Licavoli and a
serious challenge not only to his authority as Godfather but to the very
existence of the long-established Cleveland Family. Nardi's mistaking
Licavoli's bumbling manner for weakness proved to be a fatal mistake; he
was soon blown to pieces by a car bomb in the parking lot at his
Teamster's office. Only the murder of Danny Greene remained for the
Cleveland Family's revenge for the murder of Lips Moceri. Wearing his
signature green apparel and signing for his tabs with a pen that oozed
green ink, Danny Greene was a flamboyant, "in-your-face" Mobster who
included Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy among his role models. Ohio police
officer Rick Porrello, author of the definitive Greene biography TO KILL
THE IRISHMAN: THE WAR THAT CRIPPLED THE MAFIA, tells CRIME & PUNISHMENT
that Greene was a ruthless self-promoter who worked his way up in the
Labor movement while living a life of reckless behavior. Greene believed
himself an indestructible, modern-day "Celtic hero" protected by the
"luck of the Irish" and even members of the Cleveland Mob began to buy
into the myth Greene had created for himself after he emerged unscathed
from several assassination attempts, including the complete destruction
of his house by a bomb. Frustrated, the Cleveland Mob hired an outside
professional hit man, Raymond Ferritto, who met with Licavoli and Big
Ange on a boat on Ohio's Mosquito Lake on October 4, 1977. At that
meeting, the wiseguys listened to a tape recording made by a private
investigator who had tapped the telephone line of one of Greene's
girlfriends. On the tape Greene casually complained that he had a
dentist's appointment in 2 days time, and how he dreaded going to the
dentist.
.
IRISH MOBSTER DANNY GREENE (LEFT),
AND CLEVELAND MAFIA FIGURE "BIG ANGE" LONARDO
.
Finally, the Italians saw their chance. Greene showed up for his dentist
appointment as planned, after which Ronnie Carabbia, head of the Warren
rackets, pulled up in his own car, parking next to Greene's. Inside a
hollowed-out portion of the passenger side door was a bomb. Carabbia
then slipped into a car driven by Ferritto and later, when they covertly
observed Greene open the door to his car, Carabbia pushed the button of
the remote control bomb that blew the car - and Greene's body - into
pieces. As Fate would have it, an alert artist was passing by and drew a
sketch of Ferritto and his license plate. She gave this to her father,
who happened to be a cop, and the two murderers, along with Jack White,
Big Ange, and 15 other members of the Cleveland Family were indicted.
Ferritto "flipped" and turned State's witness, but only Carabbia and his
associate Pasquale "Butchie" Cisternino were convicted.
.
The fight for control of the Ohio rackets, however, was not over; with
these convictions, responsibility for providing for Carabbia's family
fell to his younger brother Charlie "The Crab" who ran Youngstown's
portion of the Cleveland Mob's gambling operations, the remainder being
run by Jimmy Prato, Joey Naples, and Lenny Strollo of the rival
Pittsburgh Family. At that time in the 1970s, most of the Mob's money
came not from drug trafficking, which is the huge moneymaker today, but
from gambling. While Mobsters such as Carabbia raked in income from
illegal slot machines, the bulk of the mob's gambling income came from
the wagering by average citizens on sporting events, especially
professional and collegiate football games. The links between the
Cleveland Mob and those in the world of football were extensive. One of
the Cleveland Godfather's golfing buddies was Cleveland Browns legendary
fullback Jim Brown. Although the FBI investigated Brown for his wagers
with Licavoli on their golf matches, no action was ever taken against
Brown by the National Football league. However, Brown's rap sheet
includes arrests in 1968, 1986, and 1999 for assault, an arrest in 1985
for rape, and a 1978 conviction for assaulting professional golfer Frank
Snow. Representing Brown was attorney Johnnie Cochran, who would go on
to defend other professional football players accused of crimes of
violence.
.
According to Dan Moldea in his book INTERFERENCE, an exhaustive expose
on the links between Professional Football and the Mafia, Youngstown
native Edward DeBartolo Sr., who in 1977 bought the San Francisco 49ers
football team for his son Edward Jr., was a gambling partner of Ronnie
Carabbia and the two made frequent trips together to the Tropicana
casino in Las Vegas. DeBartolo had built his fortune in the
Mob-influenced construction industry and his company facilities were
bombed 6 times between 1952-1954. In 1970, the senior DeBartolo was
linked in a Justice Department memo as an associate of organized crime
figures Meyer Lansky, Carlos Marcello, and Santos Trafficante. These
mobsters had for many years been involved in a scam in which
quarterbacks on college football teams were bribed to "shave" points in
favor of the Mob's point spread. Because college athletes do not earn
the huge salaries of professionals, because many are from low-income
backgrounds, and also because by shaving points the bribed athletes do
not cause their teams to lose, such athletes are easy targets for
recruitment by the Mob. Such were the traditional gambling operations of
the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Families and Charlie Carabbia saw the chaos
in the aftermath of the Nardi/Greene war as the perfect opportunity to
expand his operations at the expense of the rival Pittsburgh Family.
.
ENTER JAMES TRAFICANT
.
The product of a traditional Italian Catholic family from the tough,
low-income Youngstown neighborhood known as 'Hunkytown,' Traficant grew
up learning to fight with his fists, as well as his mouth. Just as
Youngstown native Edward DeBartolo would change his name from that of
his father, Italian immigrant Anthony Poanessa, so would Traficant's
family become more "Americanized" by dropping the 'e' from their
original name, "Traficante." In the late 1950s Traficant tasted the roar
of the crowd as the popular star quarterback of his high school football
team. He parlayed this success into a football scholarship at the
University of Pittsburgh, which for decades has operated one of the
nation's most successful and lucrative programs, winning several
national championships. Once his heady football career in Pittsburgh was
finished, Traficant returned to Youngstown to run Mahoning County's
substance abuse treatment program. Two developments of the 1970s would
shape Traficant's life forever. One was the then-popular and outrageous
polyester leisure suits and casual clothes that has become the trademark
of Traficant's own colorful and personal style. The second was much more
serious; the souring of the Youngstown economy. During the 70s, Japan
began dumping into the United States low-priced steel that was
subsidized by the Japanese government. Unable to compete with these
unfair practices, the steel industry throughout American was devastated,
sending thousands of once-proud steelworkers into the ranks of the
unemployed. The resultant discontent turned the blue-collar residents of
Mahoning County against the government "Establishment," a constituency
Traficant perfectly symbolized as someone who grew up on the wrong side
of town.
.
In 1980 Traficant saw his chance and declared his candidacy for County
Sheriff. Charlie the Crab, who had known Traficant for years, saw this
as his opportunity and approached Traficant with the offer of $163,000
in bribe money to finance his campaign. Part of this money came from
Carabbia's Cleveland Family and the rival Prato/Naples/Strollo faction
of the Pittsburgh Family contributed the rest. As both had lucrative
gambling interests in Mahoning County it was necessary for both to bribe
the man who might be next elected Sheriff so that those rackets could be
protected. Traficant accepted the Mob's, money, agreed to protect their
gambling rackets, and was elected Sheriff. Then, on the afternoon of
December 13, 1980, just weeks after Traficant's election, Charlie the
Crab got a phone call from Lenny Strollo asking him to meet him at a
local donut shop A Mahoning County Sheriff's Deputy would report seeing
Carabbia's car parked outside the donut shop with the lights on and the
doors locked. 24 Hours later the car was found abandoned in Cleveland,
the keys in the ignition. Charlie the Crab has not been seen since.
.
Convinced her husband had been murdered and that Traficant was
responsible, Mrs. Carabbia and members of her family took measures that
led to the FBI making a stunning discovery; Charlie the Crab had
secretly tape recorded conversations between himself and Traficant which
detailed their illegal activities together. The tapes were eventually
recovered and they reveal Charlie the Crab's concern that Traficant had
long been aligned with the Prato/Naples/Strollo faction of the
Pittsburgh Family. "I am a loyal !!!!!" Traficant tells Carabbia
reassuringly on one tape, "and my loyalty is here!" "And now we've gotta
set up the business that they've (Pittsburgh) run for all these !!!!!!!
years and swing that business over to you . . .That's why you financed
me!" Traficant and The Crab also talk about how Traficant laundered
$10,000 of the Mob's money through Ed Flask, a partner in the Youngstown
law firm of Flask & Policy. When Traficant expresses his concern that
Flask knows that he has been bribed by the Mob, Charlie the Crab tells
Traficant not to worry, as he has in his possession "prejudicial,
compromising photographs of Flask which would ensure his silence." "Do
you know what kind of pictures I'm talking about?" The Crab asks
Traficant. Carabbia does not elaborate as to the contents of the
photographs, but it is clear to Traficant at that point in the
conversation that Charlie, in addition to being a briber, gambler and
racketeer, is also a blackmailer.
.
AT LEFT, CHARLIE
"THE CRAB"
CARABBIA OF
THE CLEVELAND MAFIA
FAMILY AND
LENNY STROLLO
OF THE
PITTSBURGH
MAFIA FAMILY.
.
TRIAL AND ERROR
.
On August 9, 1982, Sheriff Traficant was indicted by the U. S.
Attorney's office for accepting bribes from organized crime figures and
for knowingly filing a false 1980 personal income tax return. When
arrested, the FBI played for Traficant Charlie the Crab's tapes and the
Sheriff offered a full confession. The indicted Sheriff then turned to
attorney Carmen Policy, Ed Flask's law partner, to represent him in his
bid to escape jail time. However, Traficant then called a press
conference to spill the beans about the widespread corruption and Mob
activity in Mahoning County; an outraged Carmen Policy then dropped
Traficant as his client. Sensing Traficant's vulnerability once his
attorney had abandoned him, the government offered Traficant the
opportunity to become a co-operating witness in their prosecution of the
Mafia. Such an agreement would spare Traficant serious prison time but
the down side of such an arrangement meant Traficant would have to spend
years hiding in the Witness Protection Program. Traficant knew that
members of both the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Families would be looking
for him, hoping to park a certain type of automobile in his vicinity.
With not only his own safety to think of but also that of his wife and
two daughters, Traficant made a bold, gutsy decision; he would reject
the government's offer and stand trial, acting as his own attorney.
.
At his trial in the Federal Courthouse in Cleveland, the government
presented a strong case against Traficant, including the damaging
statements on Charlie the Crab's tapes. Perhaps the most bizarre
testimony came from Traficant's friend and colleague Joseph Hudak, head
of the Sheriff's office narcotics unit. Sergeant Hudak testified that
for 5 times in the previous 10 months, Traficant had begged him to shoot
him - but just slightly, so that he could blame such an 'assassination
attempt' on the Mob and thus postpone his trial and gain public
sympathy. "At first, he suggested I shoot him in the shoulder," Hudak
testified. "Then he said he would put his hand up and I should shoot him
through the hand!" Testifying on Traficant's behalf was former Deputy
Anthony Gutierrez, who had a bit of a credibility problem in that just
months earlier he had been fired for allegedly threatening to murder
Youngstown Mayor George Vukovich. Undaunted, Traficant persisted in his
defense and maintained he had returned to Charlie the Crab the bribe
money he was on trial for accepting. With Carabbia conveniently dead,
Traficant was able to explain the contents of the tapes by telling the
jury that he had joined neither Mob faction by accepting their money,
but rather was conducting his own "undercover sting operation" against
the Mob so that he would know whom to arrest for corruption once elected
Sheriff. After four days of deliberations an exhausted jury acquitted
Traficant of all charges.
.
James Traficant had single-handedly beaten the United States government,
the same government that the residents of Mahoning County held
responsible for the closing down of the area steel mills. "This is
America in 1983 - not (Nazi) Germany in 1940!" a jubilant Traficant told
his group of supporters. "The Mob will really fear me now!" Thus,
Sheriff Traficant returned to a hero's welcome in Youngstown; tee-shirts
with his image emblazoned on them sold out in minutes outside a Church
reception; crowds jammed the victory celebration while a parade of
supporters in automobiles turned the event into a Media circus.
Traficant had proved Zsa Zsa Gabor right; there IS no such thing as "bad
publicity!" Sheriff Traficant then declared total war on the
"Establishment," filing intimidation and grand theft charges against the
FBI agents assigned to the Youngstown office, in addition to dereliction
of duty charges against them and Mayor Vukovich. Don Hanni, local
chairman of the Democratic Party, called Traficant a "nitwit, a lunatic
and a raving maniac" and tried to have Traficant declared legally insane
so he could be removed from office. Skillfully learning to manipulate
the press and public opinion, Traficant boasted publicly: "I am a
powerful bastard! I'm unique; I'm a little crazy!" Traficant's
popularity soared. Despite the opposition of the local Democratic Party,
Sheriff Traficant rode the wave of his 'anti-Establishment' notoriety
into Congress in the elections of 1984. He was, in fact, the only
Democrat nationwide to unseat an incumbent Republican in the Republican
landslide generated by the re-election of popular President Ronald
Reagan. But if James Traficant was in fact a self-styled, heroic
"Mob-buster," he would fail miserably in one of his first acts as
Congressman by hiring his old pal Charles O'Nesti, a close associate of
the Prato/Naples/Strollo Pittsburgh Mafia faction, as Chief of Staff of
his Youngstown Congressional office.
.
THE REVENGE OF BIG ANGE
.
A few months after Traficant's acquittal, Cleveland Underboss Big Ange
Lonardo, who along with Godfather Licavoli had been convicted in Federal
Court on racketeering charges, quietly 'flipped' and became a
co-operating witness for the United States government. Pre-shadowing the
later flipping of Gambino Family Underboss Sammy the Bull Gravano, it
was the highest-ranking defection amongst the Mob up until that time.
Big Ange would not disappoint the government, helping convict many
Mobsters, including "Fat Tony" Salerno, Godfather of New York's Genovese
Family. Big Ange also testified against "Deer Hunter" Rockman, the man
he believed lied about Godfather Scalish's wish that Licavoli succeed as
head of the Cleveland Family, thus depriving Big Ange of his lifelong
dream. Upon Big Ange's testimony, the Deer Hunter was convicted of
skimming profits from two Las Vegas casinos; thus did Big Ange exact his
revenge.
.
Only after the flipping of Big Ange did facts surrounding the murder of
Charlie the Crab begin to emerge. Big Ange told the FBI that after
Traficant was offered the bribe money, Jimmy Prato and Joey Naples of
the Pittsburgh Family approached him and Godfather Jack White to request
permission to murder Charlie the Crab. They suspected The Crab was
cheating them by lying about the size of his gambling rackets in
Youngstown. Most disturbingly, the two wiseguys reported that Charlie
was now in the habit of going out to public bars, getting very drunk,
and making statements against them as well as members of his own
Cleveland Family. It was evident to the four Mobsters that something was
deeply troubling Charlie the Crab; either he was becoming greedy and
trying to take over all of the Youngstown rackets for himself, or he was
on the verge of "'flipping' for the government, as had hitman Ferritto.
Prato and Naples smelled a 'rat' and wanted Charlie dead.
.
After giving the matter considerable thought, the Godfather decided that
if Charlie was murdered, his brother Ronnie, in prison for the murder of
Danny Greene, would likely retaliate by himself becoming a government
witness. Ronnie, they all knew, could bring down everyone, but would
likely stay in line as long as Charlie was alive to provide for his
brother's family. The Godfather denied Prato's and Naples' request,
although he did grant permission to murder Charlie the Crab if he
continued this erratic and unexplained behavior. Shortly after his
disappearance, Prato and Naples confessed to Big Ange that they had
murdered Charlie the Crab. The two wiseguys did not mention Lenny
Strollo's involvement, nor the man who actually did the murder, Sam
Scaffidi, nor the man who disposed of Charlie's body and car. They did,
however, apologize for the fact that the car was disposed of in
Cleveland, which would suggest to law enforcement that Charlie's
disappearance was the work of the Cleveland Family.
.
WHO WAS THIS 'FIFTH MAN' INVOLVED IN THE MURDER OF CHARLIE THE CRAB? WAS
HE SOMEONE WHOM CHARLIE HAD SECRETLY PHOTOGRAPHED OR TAPE-RECORDED FOR
THE PURPOSES OF BLACKMAIL, AND WOULD THUS HAVE A MOTIVE TO KILL HIM?
.
All that is certain is that he was an associate of Jimmy Prato, Joey
Naples, and Lenny Strollo of the Pittsburgh Mafia Family, was probably,
like most of their associates, an Italian-American. Unlike the
bloodstained car of Lips Moceri, authorities found no evidence inside
The Crab's car that a violent event had taken place.
.
THE TALE OF THE TAPES
.
In 1987 Congressman Traficant faced a civil trial for back taxes on the
bribe money he did not declare on his income tax. Advising Traficant
during this trial was Youngstown attorney George Alexander. Traficant
claimed that the money was campaign contributions, which are
non-taxable, although he failed to report the money on campaign, finance
reports. Traficant refused to testify about his statements on the FBI
tapes, perhaps fearing a Perjury trap should the government ever 'flip'
Prato or Naples. Judge B. John Williams Jr. concluded that Traficant's
refusal to testify confirmed the damning evidence on the tapes and
convicted Traficant of all charges. In his decision, Judge Williams
cited the secretly recorded conversations that were the final legacy of
Charlie the Crab. In the age of electronic surveillance, dead men DO
live on to tell tales. Shortly after Traficant's conviction, Jimmy Prato
died of a heart attack. Despite his life of crime Prato had only spent
one day of his life in jail. In August 1991 Joey Naples was blown away
by an assassin laying in wait for him in a cornfield across the site of
the construction of his retirement home. At Naples' funeral, the
Reverend John DeMarinis called his murder "tragic." "He was always there
to help!" Traficant, in town during the August Congressional recess, had
no comment.
.
THE CONGRESSIONAL FOLLIES
.
James Traficant's career in Congress has been just as controversial as
his tenure as Sheriff of Mahoning County, once again involving a single
subject; murder. One of Congressman Traficant's most publicized acts has
been his championing of John Demjanjuk, the retired auto worker whom the
Justice Department deported to Israel to face charges he was "Ivan the
Terrible," the notorious Nazi concentration camp murderer. Traficant
insisted that the Justice Department had "gotten the wrong guy" and rose
to Demjanjuk's defense. (This was, of course, the SAME Justice
Department that Traficant had compared to Nazi Germany after his own
acquittal.) Although Demjanjuk was found guilty, the Israeli Supreme
Court overturned his conviction in 1993 and Traficant personally flew to
Israel to escort the accused Nazi mass murderer back to the United
States. Traficant also has traveled to Gwinnett County, Georgia to show
his support for former police officer Mike Chapel, who was convicted of
the robbery and murder of a 53 year old woman. In August, 2000
Congressman Traficant accused former Attorney General Janet Reno of
Treason during an appearance on the live Fox News Channel talk show
Hannity and Colmes. Traficant also claimed that Reno was "Mobbed-up,"
and that the Mafia was blackmailing Reno through possession of a
secretly-recorded videotape in which Reno is seen having sex with a
Mobbed-up call girl and that the Mafia used this tape to prevent Reno
from appointing a Special Prosecutor to investigate the illegal transfer
of secret nuclear and missile technology to the government of Communist
China.
.
Congressman Traficant's greatest controversy involves his claim that
officers of the CIA were responsible for the murders of the 270 people
who died as a result of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December
1988. Shortly after this terrorist attack, Traficant called a press
conference, at which he claimed that a CIA drug trafficking scheme gone
awry had allowed the bomb to be smuggled onboard. ABC News London
correspondent Pierre Salinger then picked up the story, utilizing
Traficant, government informant Lester Coleman, and private investigator
Juval Aviv as his sources. Eventually, the Justice Department indicted
two agents of Libyan Intelligence for the bombing and Traficant's and
Salinger's CIA theory lost credibility as the press began to scrutinize
its proponents. Lester Coleman was able to get his allegations published
in a book in which he portrayed himself as a daring "superspy" but
Michael Hurley of the Drug Enforcement Administration filed a lawsuit,
and the publisher, Bloomsbury, issued a public apology to Hurley,
$155,000 in damages, $465,000 in legal fees, and agreed to shred all
remaining copies of Coleman's book. Coleman later pleaded guilty to
Perjury charges and admitted the whole Pan Am/CIA story was a hoax.
Juval Aviv, the private investigator whose report for Pan Am implicated
the CIA, also is the author of a book, "Vengeance," an account of what
he claimed was his life as a "superspy" for Israel's Mossad. The Israeli
government denied Aviv's claims and the President's Commission on
Aviation Security and Terrorism would later conclude that Aviv had
fabricated his past as a spy. In 1996 Aviv was put on trial in Manhattan
on Federal fraud charges unrelated to the Pan Am case. He was acquitted.
.
Upon Aviv's indictment Congressman Traficant found a replacement in
Prince Boris de Korczak, a retired "superspy" from Poland who, like
Aviv, immigrated to America to become a private investigator. De Korczak
joined Traficant's office as his lead researcher in his quest to prove
CIA responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Boris is best
known for the lawsuit he filed in 1996 against the CIA claiming he is
owed money from an alleged recruitment in the 1970s as a double agent
against the KGB. At a 1979 party at the Soviet Embassy in Denmark, Boris
claims, his 'cover' was blown by a drunken U. S. Embassy official,
resulting in a shoot-out with the KGB during a wild car chase through
the streets of Copenhagen. Boris also swears that once he had entered
the United States, his CIA case officer demanded a bribe of Medieval
Russian icons worth $300,000 in exchange for help obtaining the pension
he claims he is owed. Boris claims he turned over the bribe, only to be
shot in the kidney 3 months later by an unknown assailant armed with a
pellet gun. The CIA denied Boris' claims he is owed monetary
compensation and also denied any of its employees shot Boris with a
pellet gun. Boris' case was dismissed and the decision was upheld on
Appeal. In January 1998, Traficant introduced into Congress a bill that
would compel the CIA to compensate Boris. The Bill did not pass. In
March, 2001 a Scottish Court convicted Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi for
planting the bomb that made it's way onboard Pan Am Flight 103. Lamen
Khlifa Fhimah was acquitted.
.
LAMEN KHLIFA FHIMAH
THE LIBYAN SPIES
INDICTED FOR
BOMBING PAN AM
FLIGHT 103. IN AN
IMPASSIONED
CONGRESSIONAL
SPEACH IN MARCH,
1996, CONGRESSMAN
TRAFICANT DEFENDED
THE TWO. AL-MEGRAHI
WAS CONVICTED IN 2001.
ABDEL BASSET ALI AL-MEGRAHI
.
THE GREAT YOUNGSTOWN WATER SCANDAL
.
Like James Traficant, the former Sheriff's attorneys Carmen Policy and
Ed Flask would move on to bigger and better things after Traficant's
acquittal on bribery charges. Policy would become President of the San
Francisco 49ers professional football team, whose owner Edward DeBartolo
Jr., the son of Ronnie Carabbia's gambling partner, would resign his
position in December, 1997 after the Media reported he was likely to be
indicted along with former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards on Federal
illegal gambling charges. Edwards and De Bartolo were eventually
indicted and De Bartolo then 'flipped' and agreed to testify against
former governor Edwards. Edwards was later convicted on Federal bribery
charges. Ed Flask went on to head the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District,
the public utility that supplies water to the valley's 300,000
residents. Flask's downfall began in 1995, when James Callen, Chairman
of the Citizen's League of Greater Youngstown, testified before the Ohio
State Legislature. Callen was concerned that Charlie the Crab's
photographs might be used by the Mob to compromise Flask's actions in
the public interest. Callen testified: "If organized crime figures do,
in fact, have 'prejudicial, compromising photographs' of Mr. Flask that
could be used to blackmail him regarding bribes to political candidates,
what assurance do citizens of the Mahoning Valley have that the same
photographs will not be used to influence his performance as Director of
the MVSD?" Callen's testimony prompted an investigation of the MVSD by
Ohio State Auditor Jim Petro and in August, 1997 Petro released a
scathing report, accusing Ed Flask of awarding multi-million dollar
contracts to a variety of corporations and then receiving $1.9 million
in payments from those same companies. Petro is seeking the recovery of
$2.7 million in taxpayer funds, while an MVSD Special Prosecutor has
joined the FBI and the Justice Department in their investigation of
Youngstown attorneys, judges, politicians, and Mobsters implicated in an
elaborate bribery and influence peddling scam. Ed Flask later pleaded
guilty to charges of racketeering.
.
To date, over 70 Youngstown officials have been charged and convicted.
Charles O'Nesti, who for 13 years worked as Traficant's Chief of Staff
of his Youngstown Congressional office, pleaded guilty to Perjury and
racketeering charges regarding his efforts with Pittsburgh Mobster Lenny
Strollo to bribe Mahoning County Sheriff Philip Chance and to extort
money from Mahoning County contractors. Strollo, the successor to Jimmy
Prato and Joey Naples whom Traficant admits to "having conversations
with," 'flipped' and testified against Sheriff Chance, who was convicted
on all charges. Strollo also pleaded guilty to the Mafia conspiracy that
resulted in the Christmas Eve shooting of "Untouchable" Youngstown
District Attorney Paul Gains, who was targeted for assassination because
he would not accept the Mob's bribe money.
.
Traficant's former attorney George Alexander has pleaded guilty to
charges and is also co-operating with the various investigations. In
1985 and 1986, $13,000 was paid from Traficant's payroll to Alexander's
two daughters, who performed little or no work for those funds.
Contractor David Arthur Sugar has also pleaded guilty to charges he
tried to cover-up his financial dealings with Traficant. Youngstown
millionaire J. J. Cafaro has also pleaded guilty to bribing Congressman
Traficant in exchange for Traficant's help in obtaining Federal
Contracts for a high-tech business venture Cafaro was involved in.
Clarence Broad, who for many years has worked as a horse trainer on
Traficant's horse farm, has also pleaded guilty for his efforts to hire
a hitman to murder another Traficant employee who appeared before the
Grand Jury in Cleveland investigating Youngstown corruption. That
witness was placed in protective custody by the FBI for several months
until Broad was indicted. Upon hearing the secretly recorded tapes of
Broad trying to convince a 'hitman' to commit this murder, the intended
victim concluded that Traficant was behind the murder for hire plot,
according to aMedia report. In May, 2001 Traficant was again indicted by
the Feds in Cleveland on 10 counts that include bribery, Obstruction of
Justice, racketeering, and conspiracy. At his arraignment, Traficant
pleaded "Not Guilty by Reason of Sanity" and stated that he would, once
again act as his own attorney.

EPILOGUE
.
The last major investigation by the Media of Congressman Traficant was a
1990 profile in the Washington Post, which detailed Traficant's erratic
and violent behavior. One Congressional Aide complained: "He once
physically accosted my boss in the middle of the street about a
particular bill!" "He stopped traffic and wouldn't let go of his arm!"

Traficant, who lives alone on a boat, pulled no punches in telling the
Post of his willingness to resort to violence under certain conditions,
volunteering that he sleeps with a loaded shotgun at his side. "There's
no question about it!" the Congressman warned.


"If I see someone in my house at night, I'm not going to ask them what
they're doing there; I'm going to kill them!"

This story was originally published in November 1998 at the website
AmericanMafia.com
.
OTHER STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR ABOUT CONGRESSMAN TRAFICANT:
CHRISTMAS IN MURDERTOWN  .. .MOBBED-UP? . .J. R.'S MAFIA YEAR IN REVIEW
- 2000 . .
IN THE MONEY: CONGRESSMAN JAMES TRAFICANT'S CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS
Crime & Punishment Home Page.



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