Part 15 (1/2)
Another FBI memo picks up the story and provides a glimpse at the reaction of Giancana's hometown newspaper.
Information was received in October, 1963, from the Las Vegas Division that SINATRA had agreed to sell his interest in the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada to Sands, Inc. The arrangement was that SINATRA would resell his nine points at an agreed price of $43,500 per point. In this regard it is pointed out that information was received that SINATRA, when originally purchasing these points, had paid an estimated $5,000 per point. At this same time, it was learned that SINATRA was selling his interest in the Cal-Neva Lodge located at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. As noted previously, these sales were the direct result of an investigation conducted into SINATRA's a.s.sociation with SAM GIANCANA. In this regard the following editorial concerning GIANCANA's and SINATRA's relations.h.i.+p appeared in the ”Chicago Tribune” of October 24, 1963: ”THAT OLD GANG OF MINE”
”The narrow-minded, sanctimonious, and bigoted state Gaming commission of Nevada has dealt a cruel and unjust blow to Frank Sinatra, the warbler, by stripping him of his licenses to operate so-called games of chance for the visiting rubes. Frankie Boy has been held a peril to the high ethics of Nevada gambling because he provided a royal welcome at one of his joints to Momo Giancana, a Chicago gangster, who has a high rating in the hoodlum Cosa Nostra bluebook.
”Giancana was a guest at Sinatra's Lake Tahoe lodge, and his mere presence was deemed, under the bluenose standards prevailing in Nevada, to be a contamination of all that is pure and virtuous in the gambling racket. So now the revered Leader of the Hollywood Rat Pack will have to divest himself of a 3 million dollar interest in sucker traps at Tahoe and Las Vegas.
”Well, this is an hour when true friends will close ranks around Sinatra in his time of trouble, while phonies and fair weather fakers will suddenly remember they have dates elsewhere.
”Frankie has stood by Momo. Will Momo stand by Frankie? And will the Pack come running with the crying towel? When the roll is called out yonder, will Sammy Davis be there? Will Peter Lawford, the brother-in-law of President John F. Kennedy, rally round the Leader? How about Dean Martin, another member of The Clan? Anybody seen him? Will Frankie Boy's Hollywood tailor, Don Loper, who outfitted him for the J.F.K. inauguration, turn up to renew his fealty or will he retire to the cutting room with a mouthful of pins?
”Yea, these are the times when the sheep are separated from the goats, and the trueblue Rat Packers from the finks.
”We put it flatly: Will Frankie's princ.i.p.al patron stand up and be counted? We refer, of course, to J.F.K., who has been entertained by the disbarred gambler at Las Vegas and who permitted Frankie and Pack to take over provision of the entertainment at the Kennedy inauguration ball in Was.h.i.+ngton. There, in Mr. Loper's finery, Frankie cut such a resplendent figure that Joe E. Lewis wired, 'May I have the first dance?'
”The least we should expect of Mr. Kennedy is to rush word by ZIP code that, tho they may have padlocked Frankie's Nevada joints, the latchstring at the White House is out. Perhaps, by way of compensation, Frankie could be awarded the gaming concession at the state department, with a bank of one-armed bandits, dice tables, wheels, and fare boxes, the whole to be known, in memory of Nevada days, as 'The New Frontier,' which we find infinitely more tasteful than, say, 'The Last Chance Saloon.'
”Bobby Baker, the get-rich-quick operator, has little to occupy him since his resignation as secretary of the Democratic Senate majority because of a flyer in vending machines. He might be made an honorary member of the Rat Pack and allowed to team up with Frankie long enough to restore the Sinatra fortunes.”
One of RFK's top mob prosecutors, Dougald D. MacMillan, arrived in Los Angeles in 1963 to mount the feds' most serious effort to nail Sinatra. He had a high-profile plan to interview well-known celebrities close to Sinatra, but it struck other law enforcement types as ill-considered. Hoover was told of their doubts in a memo but it struck other law enforcement types as ill-considered. Hoover was told of their doubts in a memo.
TO: DIRECTOR, FBI.
DATE: 8/28/63 DATE: 8/28/63.
FROM: SAC, LOS ANGELES.
SUBJECT: FRANK SINATRA AR.
[Anti-Racketeering]
On 8/27/63, Departmental Attorney DOUGALD MACMILLAN, Organized Crime Section, arrived in Los Angeles and immediately contacted THOMAS R. SHERIDAN, Chief, Criminal Division, U. S. Attorney's Office at Los Angeles. Mr. SHERIDAN said MACMILLAN was here to discuss data which the Department has available on FRANK SINATRA and a number of his a.s.sociates. SHERIDAN requested Bureau Agents to be present.
On 8/28/63 Mr. MACMILLAN advised that he, over a long period of time, has been building up a file from excerpts taken from reports of the FBI and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other agencies concerning SINATRA. He advised that it appears there is some connection existing between the Fontainebleau Hotel, JOSEPH FISCHETTI and SINATRA and The Villa Venice, SAM GIANCANA and SINATRA and the purpose of his inquiry in this area was to solicit suggestions and organize a starting point in the possible interviewing of persons close to SINATRA. Such persons include DEAN MARTIN, SAMMY DAVIS, JR., DINAH Sh.o.r.e and EDDIE FISHER and also the interviewing of RED SKELTON in connection with moneys that SKELTON allegedly lost while flying in a commercial aircraft last year[image] Las Vegas. Las Vegas.
Mr. MACMILLAN said he did not have authority to conduct any interviews directly with SINATRA or with persons directly connected with SINATRA in any of SINATRA's enterprises, such as SINATRA's attorney, accountants, or immediate staff. He did say he had authority to interview the others mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Mr. SHERIDAN advised MACMILLAN that the proper starting point for this type of investigation would be to secure all doc.u.mentary evidence such as the contracts existing between SINATRA and others who appeared at the Fontainebleau Hotel, allegedly at the request of JOE FISCHETTI. The purpose of securing the doc.u.ments would be that the person interviewing any of those named above would be in a position to intelligently discuss specific instances without being referred to booking agents, managers or attorneys.
Mr. MACMILLAN also observed that he was sure that in compiling his file he had missed many references concerning SINATRA and was considering the possibility of making inquiry of the Bureau of Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., for a complete run down on SINATRA. No commitments were made by Bureau representatives present.
For a portion of the time, representatives of IRS were present and Mr. MACMILLAN repeated essentially the same material that appears above. ROBERT LUND, Chief of the Intelligence Division of IRS, told MACMILLAN that as far as he knew, IRS was not conducting any investigation of SINATRA other than the usual audit of returns of persons in high revenue brackets.
It would appear that Mr. MACMILLAN, at the present time, does not have any organized plan of approach nor is he quite certain as to the goal he is attempting to achieve with the information which he has acc.u.mulated.
Days later, somebody scrawled on a related FBI memo, ”MacMillan is a boy on a man's errand.” On September 4, 1963, Hoover undercut MacMillan with a memo to the special agent in charge of Los Angeles, and MacMillan went home to formulate a ”more productive” plan.
TO: SAC, Los Angeles FROM: Director, FBI SUBJECT: FRANK SINATRA AR.
[Anti-Racketeering]
Los Angeles should take no action whatever which could be interpreted as investigation of Frank Sinatra. Any requests for investigation should be brought immediately to the Bureau's attention and no action taken in the absence of specific authorization from the Bureau.
Keep the Bureau closely advised of any information coming to your attention relating to any inquiry being conducted concerning Sinatra.
TO: Director, FBI DATE: 9/10/63 DATE: 9/10/63.
FROM: SAC, Los Angeles
RE: FRANK SINATRA ANTI-RACKETEERING.
Re Los Angeles airtel dated 8/28/63 and Bureau airtel dated 9/4/63.
For the information of the Bureau, it was ascertained on a confidential basis from THOMAS R. SHERIDAN, Chief, Criminal Division, United States Attorney's Office, Los Angeles, California, that DOUGALD MAC MILLAN, Departmental Attorney, who was in the Los Angeles area regarding certain aspects of FRANK SINATRA, has now returned to the Department of Justice following the Labor Day Weekend.
According to SHERIDAN, MAC MILLAN, who originally had come to Los Angeles with an idea of interviewing certain prominent personalities, did not conduct any interviews and has returned to the Was.h.i.+ngton area to further study the material he has on hand in order to formulate some plan of action that might be more productive than the one that he originally proposed, that is interviewing persons such as DEAN MARTIN, SAMMY DAVIS, Jr., DINAH Sh.o.r.e, and EDDIE FISHER regarding the a.s.sociation of FRANK SINATRA with persons such as SAMUEL M. GIANCANA and JOSEPH FISCHETTI.
The Bureau will be kept advised of any information coming to the attention of this division regarding Mr. MAC MILLAN.
After MacMillan backed off, a further review by FBI agents of the old Sinatra files he had compiled turned up the possibly false statement that Sinatra had made in his interview with the IRS in 1959 (see chapter 4 chapter 4). In the memos excerpted below, the authorities considered whether to prosecute and detailed the evidence, the most significant of which was the recollections of a dancer and another witness who apparently had seen Giancana at the party in question.
TO: Mr. Belmont DATE:October9,1963 DATE:October9,1963 FROM: C. A. Evans
SUBJECT: FRANK SINATRA.
ANTI-RACKETEERING.
Based on information which we have supplied the Department concerning Sinatra's connection with the underworld, the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Department a.s.signed Departmental Attorney Dougald D. MacMillan to review all available information on Sinatra to determine whether prosecution could be initiated against Sinatra.
MacMillan has been in contact with Thomas R. Sheridan, Chief of the Criminal Division, United States Attorney's Office, Los Angeles, and also a special a.s.sistant to the Attorney General. MacMillan left his file on Sinatra with Sheridan in which he had apparently compiled all available data on Sinatra from FBI, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Federal Bureau of Narcotics reports. Sheridan, on an extremely confidential basis, made this file available to our Los Angeles Office for reviewing, indicating that he did not desire that the Department or MacMillan become aware of this.