Video Shows Trump Spent Time With Mob-Linked Gambler He Claimed He Didn’t Know
A recently unearthed video shows that Donald Trump spent time with a Mob-linked gambler who for years he claimed not to have known.
Trump had repeatedly protested that he did not know a high-stakes gambler named Robert LiButti, a frequent guest and high roller at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City until he was banned from New Jersey casinos in 1991 because of alleged connections to organized crime.
In his new book The Making of Donald Trump, David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who investigated Trump’s businesses for decades, writes that LiButti was “Trump’s best customer, and Trump treated him like a friend. Trump lavished gifts on LiButti, was generous with his time, and, less graciously, repeatedly tried to seduce the gambler’s grown daughter.” LiButti put an end to that, reportedly telling Trump that if he didn’t stop asking his daughter out, he’d “fucking pull your balls from your legs.”
Johnston describes how Trump kept LiButti coming back to his tables with an array of complimentary services and expensive gifts. LiButti told Johnston in 1991 that Trump and his staff had exploited his weakness for compulsive gambling.
In 1991 he was banned from New Jersey casinos by the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement because of alleged ties to Mob boss John Gotti. That same year Trump denied being familiar with LiButti and claimed he could not recognize him if he saw him. Earlier this year, he told Yahoo News that LiButti’s name still didn’t ring a bell. LiButti died in 2014.
The new video, which was obtained by Yahoo News, features Trump standing next to LiButti at a 1988 Wrestlemania event. Upon reviewing the tape, Johnston said, “That’s definitely Bob LiButti standing right next to Donald Trump.”
Michael Isikoff writes:
LiButti wasn’t there by accident, according to his daughter, Edith Creamer, who also attended the event. “We were his guests,” she told Yahoo News in a text message this week.
[…] In the video, LiButti can be seen alongside Trump as the real estate mogul greets the ring announcer, sportscaster Bob Uecker, and later as Trump kisses on the cheek special guest Vanna White. LiButti can also be seen sitting throughout the 3 1/2-hour event in a front-row seat next to Trump and his then wife, Ivana.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told Yahoo News: “This was obviously a massive event, which took place decades ago. Mr. Trump attended many similar events with thousands of people during this time period.”
You can read the complete report here.
Video via Yahoo News.
[image via screengrab]
