Hillary Gets Mob-Linked Endorsement

Amid controversies of indicted fugitive donors, a Palestinian money trail and a corrupt presidential campaign co chair impeached as a federal judge, Hillary Clinton has proudly accepted the endorsement of a powerful union boss with documented mob ties and an upcoming bribery trial.

The corrupt union head, Michael Forde, supported Clinton during her 2000 Senate run and this week he announced the coveted backing of his 25,000-member New York District Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. 

Forde faces a bribery trial next month in a corruption scandal with deep mob links. The union boss has been charged with taking bribes from contractors to allow nonunion, off-the-books labor on job sites. His ties to organized crime have been well-documented for almost a decade.

A few years ago Forde was actually convicted in a huge probe of mob influence in the construction industry. A jury found Forde guilty of taking bribes from a mob-run contractor to keep union workers off its projects, but a judge ruled that jurors improperly discussed the case before deliberating and tossed out the verdict.

The mob-linked endorsement is just the latest on Clinton’s lengthy presidential campaign list of shady supporters. She recently returned nearly $1 million in tainted campaign money from fugitive Chinese fundraiser Norman Hsu, has taken hefty contributions from a New York law firm indicted for fraud and bribery, a Texas oilman charged with bribing Iraqi officials as part of the corrupt United Nations’ oil-for-food program and a Pakistani businessman on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

Clinton has also put aside her avid pro Israel stance to accept hefty donations from an influential Palestinian businessman (Hani Marsi) with close ties to a renowned Arab terrorist leader. Marsi is considered the most influential supporter of the Palestinian cause in Washington and he was very close to the late Yasser Arafat, an Arab terrorist icon who founded the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah movement.

Additionally, Clinton has padded her 2008 presidential campaign with co chairs who are renowned leaders in the radical Mexican La Raza movement as well as a corrupt Florida congressman (Alcee Hastings) impeached as a federal judge for perjury and bribery.