The conspiracy to kill Dennis Kucinich

[John Geraghty]

This is quite a shocking video of a plot to kill Conngressman Dennis Kucinich while mayor of Cleveland. Kucinich is running for the democratic nomination for president.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20sRFPAbDQw

Kucinich's website www.kucinich.us

Edited June 11, 2007 by John Geraghty

[Evan Burton]

John,

Could you do a precis of the video? I try not to download YouTube (et al) vids if possible, due to bandwidth restrictions.

[John Geraghty]

Evan,

Here is a summary that I found on americanmafia.com

One of the more bizarre crimes Tommy Sinito became involved in was 1978 assassination plot to kill then Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich. The three year on again, off again, assassination plot ended when Dennis lost the 1979 mayoral election.

Dennis Kucinich, nicknamed "The Boy Mayor" in 1977 rode into office on a wave of optimism for the City of Cleveland. He planned to make Cleveland into a dynamic place to live and work. within months Kucinich found the honeymoon was over with the media and the public. His nickname changed from "The Boy Mayor" to "Dennis the Menace". His bright political future came to a dead stop, his decision not to sell the Cleveland Municipal Light Electric Company to the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company was one the major reason why. The city’s going into economic default was another..

Kucinich found himself reviled by all of the public media outlets, both electronic and print, in Cleveland. Kucinich became material for late night talk show hosts and other standup comedians. Cleveland again became known as the mistake on the lake. When he appeared to throw out the first pitch of the season for the 1978 Cleveland Indians opening game at the old Municipal Stadium, Kucinch had to wear a bullet proof vest for protection.

Under his turbulent administration the city went into economic default. It had the poorest bond rating in the country. No finanical institution would extend credit to help Cleveland pay its bills. The city couldn’t burrow money. Cleveland as a major city had to pay its bills as it went. His time as Cleveland’s mayor is considered one of the worst in Cleveland’s history.

Throughout his short time as Cleveland’s mayor both the city and he became the butt of every comedian in the country. Kucinich became the target of venomous outrage at his new found national identity. His naive political thinking didn’t meet the challenge of tough urban politics. He survived a recall election only to lose the mayoral election in 1979 to former Cuyahoga County auditor George Voinovich. For the next nine years under the leadership of then Mayor Voinovich, City Council Presidents Basil Russo and George Forbes, they repaired the economic damage Kucinich had done to the city. Under Voinovich’s leadership Cleveland was repaired to became a "comeback" city both nationally and economically.

One decision Kucinich made while mayor was to review various city held contracts the city had with various companies. In an effort to save money for the financially strapped city have these contracts re-bid on, with the contracts going to the lowest bidder. This decision put him at odds with the Cleveland Mob. The Cleveland Mafia didn’t care Kucinch sold the Municipal Light system to the highest bidder, its sale didn’t affect them. Re-bidding on the city contracts they held through various front companies would

Some city contracts, especially in garbage hauling, had been under total mob control since the late 1940s. When Dennis announced in both daily papers, the Plain Dealer and the now defunct Cleveland Press, that he planned to review all city held contracts and open them to the lowest outside bids, he made Cleveland’s Mafia leaders angry. If he were successful, this decision would collide with Mob interests.

Kucinich made other economic decisions affecting mob interests, reviewing all of the garbage hauling contracts made him the target of their anger. Every mob held front company having any city contracts could have been investigated and criminal charges might been brought. This meant being convicted on federal racketeering charges under RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations). Under RICO statutes, sentencing penalties are stiff with long jail sentences. None of Cleveland’s mob leaders wanted any investigations of their front businesses to happen.

Sinito was ordered to find an "outsider" to assassinate Kucinich. The Cleveland Mafia leaders didn’t want any evidence traced back to them. Mob leaders didn’t want to use the services of the local Murder Machine of Carmen Zagaria, Kevin McTaggart and the Graewe brothers, Hans and Fritz, all serial killers. Using local talent would lead back to them Sinito had to obtain the services of an outside contract killer. Sinito’s uncle Joey Maxim, who worked in an Atlantic City casino helped his nephew Tommy make a connection. Maxim made contact with a contract killer. Maxim didn’t know wjen he’d contacted a Maryland State Police officer using the name Gene. A police officer who specialized in posing as a contract killer.

First contact between the two men came in the Atlantic City casino where Tommy’s uncle worked. Gene walked into the casino’s lounge where he’d been told to meet Sinito. Tommy who felt he was being watched nodded his head twice. Gene nodded back, Sinito knew the Kucinich assassination plot was on. The only name Gene had to work with was the first name Tommy. Cleveland Police searched their records and made the connection to Mafia associate Tommy Sinito.

The original plan was to pay Gene $25,000 for his services. Several plans were discussed; one, kill Dennis as he left Tony’s Diner on West 117th and Lorain Avenue. Gene would perch on an outside steel fire escape across the street, armed with a sniper rifle and shot Dennis when he came out of the diner. A seconnd plan shot Dennis as he marched down Euclid Avenue in the 1979 Columbus Day Parade. Both plans fell through when Dennis wasn’t re-elected in 1979.

How did Dennis earn the Cleveland Mob’s hatred? There were some things they liked about Dennis. Nowever when he questioned the garbage hauling contracts various mob members had with the Cleveland. Dennis threatened them, they had held these contracts for years as an monoply Kucinch wanted all garbage hauling contracts reviewed and re-bid on going to the lowest bidder. A steady source of income would dry up if this occurred. Dennis had to go. No one thumbed their nose at the Mob and got away with it! Money runs deeper than blood to the Mob

If Dennis and his people couldn’t be controlled by bribery, other plans had to be made. Bizarre plans were hatched to control Dennis. For three years the Mob bounced ideas between themselves, none of them were ever realized.

Gene found the Cleveland Mob connected to an interlinked chain of criminal influence reaching from Cleveland to Youngstown, the corruption crescent of Ohio. The chain stretched to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and on to Washington, D.C. The Mob’s influence ran deeper than Gene realized.

Even the Permanent U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Organized Crime warned in the 1970s that Mafia influence could migrate from major urban centers to smaller towns and cities that were easier to control. The Mob had fled the city to the rural wilderness to pursue its criminal activities.

Gene’s involvement in the assisnation plot grew stranger. Each time Gene came to Cleveland and met with various mob members to investigate the plot, mob leaders, who thought he was a contract killer, gave him free rein to plan. While mob leaders Gene met with made veiled references to the Kucinich plot, none of them ever discussed it openly.

Gene made two more trips to Cleveland and made one to West Virginia to discuss the assassination plot. To make his image as a successful contract hit man believable, he drove a expensive late model car and wore expensive clothing. He wanted to project success and fooled them into believing he could do the job. While the amateurs he’d dealt with before wanted to make the plans for each contract killing, the Mafia members let him plan he wanted to do. Cleveland Mafia leaders let Gene do the planning Gene bounced some assassination scenarios off them trying get their reactions

They made Gene nervous, he’d never had dealings with real criminals and to protect himself. He couldn’t conduct any business until mob leaders approved of them. Gene wore a wire 24/7 to reecord his conversations with mob membeeers to protect imself. Dealing with professionals was a different game from dealing with amateurs. One slip in his cover he’d be killed.

Every meet Gene had with the Cleveland Mafia became more dangerous.

Always the hustler, Tommy Sinito ran interence between Gene and mob leaders, balanced both sides. During every meeeting Gene had with the mob, Sinito listened to both sides and tried to accomplish what the Cleveland Mob had given him orders to do.

Gene grew more terrified sfter each meeting he had with Cleveland’s Mob leaders. Their professional behavior worried him, Gene played along to complete his investigation. To protect himself Gene traveled from Matyland to Cleveland with six other undercover policemen. Nothing resulted from the Mob’s assisnation plot, it fizzled out after Dennis lost the 1979 mayoral election. Gene returned home to Maryland. Case closed. In 1984 the 1978 Dennis Kucinich plot would result in a probe into the Cleveland Mafia’s part in the assisnation plot.

[John Geraghty]

bump

[Len Colby]

I like Kucinich but unfortunately his chances of getting elected president are practically zero. I would like to seem get elected to the Senate though, but Ohio is a reasonably conservative state so even that isn’t likely.

The video is interesting, it was taken from a Cleveland news program. They interview the retired detective who got tipped off about the case by a colleague in Maryland who in turn got the info from a drunk and high informant. Carl Stokes another progressive mayor of Cleveland also appeared briefly, he was the brother of Louis Stokes chairman of the HSCA

[John Geraghty]

Len,

I agree that Kucinich is a fairly low profile presidential candidate. I'm going to be involved in a few attempts to raise that profile via youtube and a bit of canvassing.

Kucinich, or 'the kooch', as a lot of college students are calling him, is one of the most prolific of candidate youtube posters, and his videos are very good.

www.youtube.com/Kucinich2008

John

[Don Jeffries]

As long as the corrupt mainstream media persists in their constant pre-election polls, in which candidates like Kucinich are invariably reported at 1-2%, the people are being effectively disenfranchised. The ONLY rationale for pre-election polls is if someone wants to limit choices.