Trump Shares Praise From Former Mobster

On Jan 13, Trump shared a video of a former mob boss claiming that he never managed to convince the former president to partake in criminal activity. Trump said he hoped the judges overseeing two of his trials saw the former mobster’s comments.

Fishing for funds

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“I couldn’t get to him,” Salvatore Gravano said in an interview. “He wouldn’t bite.”

Infamous mobster

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Trump called Gravano “Sammy the Bull,” referencing the ex-mobster’s nickname earned while working for the Gambino crime family. Gravano earned the name as a kid when a group of mobsters were impressed with his fighting skills.

Trying everything

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“I tried a couple of times to pressure [Trump] and make arrangements where I could work with him,” Gravano said. “I had the power of the unions. I could do all kinds of things. But I couldn’t get to him.”

Judge of character

“I hope Judges Engoron & Kaplan see this,” Trump wrote in reference to Gravano’s comments. If the judges saw the post, they apparently weren’t impressed, because they both ended up ruling against Trump.

Shouting in anger

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During his closing statement, Trump lashed out at Judge Engoron, overseeing his civil fraud trial. He called the case a “political witch hunt,” insisting to the judge that it “is a fraud on me.”

Ruining the proceedings

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Judge Kaplan oversaw the defamation case between Trump and E. Jean Carroll. On Jan 13, her lawyer asked the judge to prevent Trump from “turning this trial into a circus” during testimony.

Own agenda

“If Mr. Trump appears at this trial,” Carroll’s lawyer wrote in a letter to Judge Kaplan, “his recent statements and behavior strongly suggest that he will seek to sow chaos.” Trump and his lawyer’s antics were widely reported on, with Carroll’s lawyer later joking that they added millions onto Trump’s eventual $83.3 million punishment.

Repeat event

A jury already ruled in an earlier trial that Trump was liable for sexually assaulting Carroll and later defamed her by denying that fact and attacking her character. Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in damages.

False claims

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This trial was over a separate, potentially defamatory incident in which Trump called Carroll’s allegation “totally false.”

Meaning of fair

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“We need fairness, strength, and honesty in our New York Courts,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post sharing Gravano’s comments. “We don’t have it now!”

Spreading a myth

“Forget about Trump,” Gravano says in the video. “He’s a legitimate guy.” The video is captioned, “THIS IS WHY WASHINGTON HATES HIM..”

Changing name

Dishonest businessman telling lies, lying businessperson holding fingers crossed behind his back. Lie — Illustration. Image credit: Depositphotos

Sammy “The Bull” Gravano later became known as “Sammy the Rat,” when in 1991, he agreed to cooperate with the state against his former mobster boss. At the time, he was the most senior mobster to break the Italian mafia’s blood oath of silence.

Recent release

Gravano was sentenced to five years in prison. In the early 2000s, he was arrested and sentenced to twenty years for drug offenses, though he was released in late 2017.