The dirty South filed gutwrenching Racketeering Corrupt Influence Organization Act charges against former B level reality star and US President, Donald J. Trump. Trump faces a life sentence if he loses. If just one of the 18 people charged with him folds under questioning, Trump will be the biggest loser to have ever lost.
In less than 10 years Trump went from from the most powerful man in the free world to new booty. He nearly stole the election in a bold but poorly executed conspiracy with 18 other Federal and State officials. Fingerprints and evidence was left all over the scene of the crime.
Apalachin Mob Convention, 1957
But this story starts back in 1957, when 60 mobsters were caught in a farm out in the New York sticks. They were prosecuted, convicted and then an appellate court let the notorious men go. Why? Because there was no RICO laws and organized crime was smarter than the Feds. But after that, the Fed spent the next 15 years crafting a law to catch the Big Fish. This became known as RICO. To understand how Trump's fat has been caught in a scalding fire, we have to understand why the RICO act became the American "Our Thing." We have to understand the trial of the mobsters at Apalachin. To do that we need to meet the superstars of Law and Order back then. First, meet the infamous Federal Court where the mobsters were tried. Then meet the judge who oversaw the successful conviction of the mobsters at Joe The Barber's farmhouse.
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The federal Judge Irving R. Kaufman oversaw the conviction of 20 mob defendants caught up in the 1957 Apalachin arrests. (Article Here). The infamous United States District Court for the Southern District of New York heard a lot of famous cases. A recent famous case is Michael Cohen's conviction and sentencing for a ton of criminal activity on behalf of Donald Trump. (Article Here). But this Court heard Titanic injury claims, the Rosenberg spy trial which led to their execution, allowing the Pentagon Papers to be published over the government's objection, the Bernie Madoff case, Sam Bankman-Fried, the $1 Billion lawsuit against Google and YouTube and the Martha Stewart case. (Wiki Here). Thus, it makes sense the court would hear the criminal case against the mobsters rounded up in 1957 at Joe "The Barber" Barbara's estate in Apalachin, NY. (Article Here).
Judge Irving R. Kaufman
Who is Judge Irving R. Kaufman? From 1935 to 1939 he was a Special Assistant United States Attorney of the Southern District of New York. Later he became Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States from 1947 to 1948. President Harry S. Truman made Kaufman a federal judge in 1949 while the Senate was in recess. Blandly, this is called a recess appointment. Basically, it's a temporary appointment to keep the government going when Senators are back home resting and sipping cocktails in wood paneled rooms. Presidents do this to get around the Senate confirmation process that can devolve into pearl clutching shenanigans. The Senate confirmed Judge Kaufman on April 4, 1950.
Judge Kaufman oversaw the conviction and sentencing of Julius Rosenberg and his wife Ethel Rosenberg for spying on the US for the USSR (basically Russia) during the Cold War. (Article Here). That's right, it's like The Americans (Series Info Here) but in real life. They went to Sing Sing, the infamous New York prison where even Rudy Giuliani's dad did time, and were executed for treason. (Article Here).
No American civilians had been executed for treason before. They were both killed by the electric chair and apparently, it was an ugly scene. That's the same Judge Kaufman.
(Executed Married Couple).
This same Judge oversaw the conviction of 20 mobsters gaffled up by the law enforcement in Apalachin on 1957. The short story is that state troopers and federal agents were alerted to a massive mafia sitdown because a quiet country house had about 60 massive Cadillacs parked in the fields. (Article Here). An excellent book on the high rollers, ins and outs of this historic huddle is "Mafia Summit" by Gil Reavill. (Amazon Link Here). In front of Judge Kaufman the prosecutor Milton R. Wessel brought 20 mobsters to trial. (Article Here) All that was happening was a meeting so the prosecutor Wessel brought conspiracy to obstruct justice because everyone lied about why they were at this meeting. Nearly all of the mobsters claimed they were visiting Joe "The Barber" because he was ill. Nearly all to a man said they had no idea that the other 60 gangsters were doing the exact same thing. Honest to God, it was just a "fluke" we all showed up on the same day. (Article Here).
Coming soon, we will meet the prosecutor Milton R. Wessel and why he charged the Apalachin mobsters with "Conspiracy."
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