BAKER
BAKER
notable missing ???
pic related
BAKER
BAKER
notable missing ???
pic related
part 1/2
https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/09/trumps-pal-al-sharpton/
https://archive.is/mWlnw (archive is blank â anyone else want to try to archive this?)
Trumpâs Pal Al
By JILLIAN KAY MELCHIOR
September 1, 2015 8:00 AM
On a frigid January night in 1988, 16,000 spectators packed into Atlantic Cityâs Convention Center to see 21-year-old Mike Tyson take on boxing legend Larry Holmes, 38. The event, marketed as âHeavyweight History,â sold out, with an even larger audience watching as Home Box Office televised the event. In a ring emblazoned with Trump Plaza branding, Tyson repeatedly knocked down Holmes, until, to great uproar, the referee stopped the fight five seconds before the end of the fourth round.
But Holmes and Tyson werenât the only spectacular pair in the arena that night. Leaving the Convention Center, amid fans vociferously enraptured with the nightâs drama, was Donald Trump â and not far behind him, âin a light blue suit with his ever-present Martin Luther King Jr. peace medallion resting on his barrel chest, was Mr. [Al] Sharpton,â the New York Times reported.
Sharpton and Trump forged an unlikely friendship over Atlantic City boxing deals that has lasted for decades, through ups and downs. Even as the Tawana Brawley scandal unfolded and Sharpton faced a 67-count indictment involving how he used funding for his youth organization, Trump remained a prominent supporter of the agitator, numerous sources close to the two men tell National Review.
Trumpâs relationship with Sharpton began as a pragmatic business choice. By the late 1980s, Atlantic Cityâs slow rot had begun to stink. Beyond the neon glimmer of casinos lay a ramshackle city beset by corruption, crime, poverty, and racial tensions. In contrast, Las Vegas was thriving; between 1982 and 1988, its visitors increased by nearly 50 percent, drawn by the glitzier casinos, a safer city, and the bigger attractions, even as the approval of gambling and lotteries in other states created more competition.
Trump, who had bet big on Atlantic City, knew he needed a fresh lure to draw tourists away from the Nevada deserts and toward the New Jersey boardwalk. The man who could deliver star boxers to Trump and his casinos was Don King, the famed promoter.
âWe did business together, and we revolutionized Atlantic City, bringing in the biggest events that could be put forth,â King tells NR, describing the mogul as âdead set on building Atlantic City.â King recalls how Trump would fly him in on a helicopter to negotiate deals that were âdone on a handshake.â
King was also close with Sharpton, and he decided to introduce him to Trump, both King and Sharpton say.
At the time, King says, âI was the one who subsidized [Sharpton], to give him that âF-you
money,â so that you donât have to worry about going out there.â He continues: âI wanted
Sharpton to meet this guy because he was a giant in the business community and a giant in the
human community.â King says he thought highly of Trump then, just as he does now, and he
realized that Sharpton needed white allies. âTrump was a white ally â and he was one of
distinction and renown in the business world,â King says.
The relationship worked, King says, because Sharpton and Trump shared core values, among
them commitment to the rights of women and minorities. But other sources have suggested
that Trump was more calculating: Supporting Sharpton would cement his relationship with
King, which would allow Trump to continue booking major stars for Atlantic City events.
âTrump, I think, saw Sharpton as a hustler, and a hustler who could deliver the people he
needed,â says one source close to Sharpton. âHe is a businessman, after all, so why wouldnât he
do a deal with Sharpton . . . if he could get Don King or James Brown or Mike Tyson?â
part 2/2
Trumpâs campaign did not respond to repeated inquiries by NR about the candidateâs relationship with Sharpton.
But last December, Trump appeared on Fox to discuss the murder of two New York City cops and whether mayor Bill de Blasio and Sharpton âhave blood on their hands.â
âI know [Sharpton] very well, and Iâve always gotten along with him, to be honest with you,â
Trump said at the time. âThere are those who say [Sharpton] likes Trump a lot. . . . Alâs a con
man. He knows it. I know it. Don King knows it, his friend, who I go to with fights with â with
Al. And they all know it.â
Itâs not clear exactly what form Trumpâs patronage took. By some accounts, Trump was one of the top donors to the National Youth Movement, an organization that was the precursor to Sharptonâs National Action Network.
In the summer of 1989, Sharpton was arrested and named in a 67-count indictment, which alleged, among other charges, that he had stolen at least $250,000 from the organization, using the money for himself. Records of the court case were sealed after a jury in 1990 acquitted Sharpton of all counts, even after 80 witnesses testified against him. But news reports at the time suggested Trump donated to the National Youth Movement.
After reviewing the indictment, the Washington Post in July 1989 listed Trump and King â
along with CBS, Coca-Cola, Warner Communications, and Miller Brewing Co. â as National Youth Movement donors.
And an April 1990 report on the trial by the Philadelphia Inquirer claimed that Sharpton had raised $70,000 at a 1986 fundraising dinner âby selling $300 seats to record companies and organizations headed by boxing promoter Don King and entrepreneur Donald Trump.â The prosecutors alleged that only $4,500 went to the National Youth Movementâs anti-drug campaign, the article says, with the rest diverted elsewhere by Sharpton.
One source close to Sharpton estimates that over the years, Trump gave him anywhere between $20,000 and $150,000 for the National Youth Movement and his activism.
Sharpton, however, tells NR, âI never received any financial supportâ from Trump, and that he was âneverâ a middleman between Trump and King. âI donât think we were close,â he says of their Atlantic City days. âWe were relational.â
The media accounts listing Trump as a donor were wrong, Sharpton says, and, âas you know, we were acquitted of all charges, in part because what they alleged, they couldnât produce in court â among them, a donation from some of the people they [listed].â
Sharpton says he received only limited verbal support from Trump, who approved of some of his drug-fighting work. âHe would say it was good, he was encouraging,â Sharpton says.
âThatâs all I remember. He never contributed, never did anything other than verbal [support].â
King says he doesnât know how much money, if any, Trump gave Sharpton, but that the mogulâs endorsement alone helped Sharpton.
âI do know that Trump became an ally,â King says. âAnd the mere fact that heâd be seen in photographs with [Sharpton], thatâs more than money. And to give some money, whatever it may have been â that would have been icing on the cake..â
In January 2004, when Sharpton was running for president, The Guardian ran a biographic piece about Sharpton, mentioning that he considered mentor James Brown, âalongside other prominent figures such as lawyer Johnny Cochran and Donald Trump, as a political supporter.â
Around this time, knowledgeable sources maintain, Sharpton called his Atlantic City pal for a big favor.
oops â continued in part 3
part 3 of 3 on Al Sharpton - Trump article
https://www.nationalreview.com/2015/09/trumps-pal-al-sharpton/
In the spring of 2003, Sharpton left his wife, Kathy, at almost exactly the same time as Marjorie Harris, the National Action Networkâs executive director, left her husband. Tabloids soon alleged an affair between Sharpton and Harris, and a Village Voice investigation revealed that Harris had somehow come into possession of a new Cadillac and Mercedes, in addition to a â$7,000 Rolex, mink coats, and David Yurman jewels appraised at $1,500 and $4,000.â
Even flashier, though, were Harrisâs new digs: a sublet luxury apartment on the 15th floor of Trump Place. The Village Voice put its value at roughly half a million dollars in 2004; today, CityRealty lists a one-bedroom apartment on the floor below at $1.1 million.
Itâs unclear how Harris was able to afford the place. National Action Networkâs sparse eight-page tax filings for 2004 fail to list her as an officer, though according to numerous news reports, as well as Harrisâs own LinkedIn page, she was the executive director. In fact, in 2004, Sharpton is the only officer, director, trustee, or key employee named in the tax filings, which list his salary at just over $93,000, also noting that the organization was $1.2 million in the red.
So how did Marjorie Harris get the apartment? According to more than one source familiar with the situation, Sharpton phoned Trump, asking him to use his influence with the management board to get her into Trump Place, even though she lacked the necessary credit or income.
âWhen she got the apartment, Sharpton said, âMy executive director needs a place to live,ââ one source says. âTrump said for Marjorie to just call his assistant, sheâll get you the apartment. She didnât have to fill out an application, do a credit check â anything. Then it was reduced rent:
She was paying a tiny bit. Sharpton was starting to pay a bit, too, because he was sleeping with her.â
Another source told me: Trump exercised âwhatever clout he had with the management boardâ on Harrisâs behalf. âDonald didnât own this building,â the source says. âBut Sharpton asked if he could get his âfriend,â who didnât have [adequate] credit standards, into the building. Donald accommodated.â
When NR asked Sharpton about claims that Trump had helped Marjorie Harris get an apartment beyond her pay grade, Sharpton replied: âItâs absolutely and irrevocably untrue, because first of all, I never knew how she got in. I assume she went in through a normal way, and I donât even know if that was just one of the buildings [Trump] put his name on or whatever. But Iâve never had favors from Donald Trump at all, for me or anyone else, like that. I know people that he supported, but I wasnât one of them.â
Today, the two are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. In the interview last December, Trump said on Fox that Sharpton âis a guy who I donât believe really believes what heâs saying.â
And Sharpton has used his MSNBC and radio shows to criticize Trump, arguing that his stances on Barack Obamaâs birth certificate and the Central Park Five were racist.
A source close to Sharpton says heâs felt betrayed by Trump recently. âThis guy is either playing the Right or playing us, whatever worked for him,â the source says. âAnd Sharpton felt it was very cynical and was personally offended that [Trump] would be so cavalier.â
Be that as it may, both of them have come a long way since Atlantic City.