Geary v. Ney: Gangster-Praising Smackdown!
Ok, so Bruno said we were only going to use this scene sparingly, because it’s too darn easy. And I agree. But this one’s just a huge motzah ball hanging out there and I need to take a swing at it.
When Senator Geary was getting ready to sneak out of Michael Corleone’s hearing, he put a statement in the Congressional Record praising Italian Americans, an obvious and cheap attempt to curry favor with Corleone, to whom he was in debt:
“Italian Americans are the hardest working, most law abiding patriotic Americans of our country. It is a shame and a pity that a few rotten apples give them a bad name.”
As an Italian-American, I can’t help but agree. Now check out the statement that an actual Congressman, Bob Ney (R-OH), put in the congressional record in praise of an actual criminal, Adam Kidan:
“Since my previous statement, I have come to learn that SunCruz Casino now finds itself under new ownership and, more importantly, that its new owner has a renowned reputation for honesty and integrity. The new owner, Mr. Adam Kidan, is most well known for his successful enterprise, Dial-a-Mattress, but he is also well known as a solid individual and a respected member of his community.”
Hmmm…
That’s kind of a funny thing to say, isn’t it? Funnier still since SunCruz and Adam Kidan were all the way down in Florida and Ney represents Ohio. 
So let’s unpack it: Adam Kidan had just recently purchased SunCruz with none other than the Don himself, disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, as well as former Reagan administration official Ben Waldman.
Kidan and SunCruz’s former owner, Gus Boulis, were feuding about the way SunCruz should be run. Boulis threatened to tell authorities about a bunch of the questionable tactics that had been employed during the SunCruz purchase, including phony wire transfers, and so Abramoff pulled out the political muscle to shut him up.
Casino Jack got in touch with his old pal and lobbying partner Michael Scanlon and asked him “Would 10K for NRCC from Suncruz for Ney help?” Scanlon said it sure would. So SunCruz, under the direction of Kidan and Abramoff, wrote a check to the NRCC (National Republican Campaign Committee) and gave Ney credit for raising the cash. That put Ney in very good favor with the GOP big boys.
And then Voila! Six days after the check from SunCruz, Kidan gets an on-the-record pat on the back from a real live Congressman, Bob Ney!
You’ve got to wonder if Ney knew what kind of guy Kidan was at the time or if he’ll just do anything for 10 grand. Kidan has had close associations with organized crime throughout his life: his mother was killed by members of the Bonnano family and one of his earliest associates in business was Michael Cavallo, identified by New York police as a member of the mafia. He also had three gangsters on his payroll who, coincidentally, assassinated Boulis in February 2001.
Now, Corleone had Geary in his pocket for other reasons, of course. He’d set it up so that Geary thought he killed a hooker and Michael came to his rescue. Ney did it for, arguably, a much lamer reason: $10,000 bucks.
Either way, Rep. Ney: For having the out and out gall to flagrantly accept cash in exchange for official acts, we at ROTM salute you. Shennanigans like these make our job easy.