His Way_ The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra - Kitty Kelley [244]
“I was not.”
“Did you know Mr. Lucchese?”
“I met him.”
“Could you tell me how well or how often you met Mr. Lucchese?”
“Once or twice, a long time ago.”
“Could you tell us under what circumstances you met Mr. Lucchese?”
“I can’t remember that.”
Exasperated by the evasive answers, the counsel said, “Well, I am trying to learn, Mr. Sinatra, how it is that Mr. Rizzo could make such a favorable impression on you in such a short period of time.” Frank didn’t say.
Later, Charles Carson, the racetrack’s comptroller, testified that Frank and Rizzo were childhood friends. He said that Rizzo told him: “I have known Sinatra since New Jersey. I was a neighbor of his and knew the whole family. Now that he is in the money, I can talk with him just like I talked with him before.”
The committee tried to resolve the conflicting testimonies the next day when Salvatore Rizzo appeared, but Rizzo invoked the Fifth Amendment on thirty-four of the forty-six questions asked. He refused to say whether he knew Frank, for how long, whether he sold him Berkshire Downs stock, or had lived in Frank’s old New Jersey neighborhood.
But Rizzo had testified in 1968 to the Florida State Beverage Commission about Frank’s investment in Berkshire Downs, and that testimony was read into the House Crime Committee record:
Q: Did Frank Sinatra receive money in your track up there?
A: Yes.
Q: How long have you known Mr. Sinatra?
A: Fifteen or twenty years.
Commenting on the earlier testimony, the House committee counsel said, “It appears, Mr. Chairman, that either Mr. Sinatra’s testimony before this committee was false, or the testimony of Mr. Rizzo before the Florida State Beverage Commission was false. In either case, one of the gentlemen has committed perjury.”
New England Mafia boss Raymond Patriarca was brought before the committee from the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he was serving ten years for murder conspiracy. Asked if he had ever met Frank, the mobster said, “I never met Frank Sinatra personally. I seen him on television and at the moving pictures.”
“Did you ever have any business dealings with him?”
“No, sir.”
“Did you ever purchase any stock from him?”
“No, sir.”
“Anybody on your behalf do it?”
“I claim my Fifth Amendment privilege.”
“Do you have any knowledge that anyone associated with you had any business dealings with Sinatra?”
“I claim my Fifth Amendment privilege.”
While Patriarca said he did no business with Frank directly, he would not deny that a front man did it for him, which left real questions about Sinatra’s testimony. But the committee members seemed so chastened by Frank’s outrage that they all but apologized for calling him to testify.
“You’re still the chairman of the board,” said Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY).
After ninety-five minutes, Frank swaggered out of the room, clearly the victor. He sent the committee an $18,750 bill for his expenses, which he said included chartering a jet at $1,200 an hour to fly back from Europe to testify. He was not reimbursed.
Still steaming about the indignity he had been subjected to, he commissioned New York journalist Pete Hamill to write an essay in his name for The New York Times; it was printed on the op-ed page on July 24, 1972. Frank upbraided the committee for invading his privacy, trying to besmirch his good name, and he accused members of seeking publicity at his expense during an election year.
The committee backed off and no further action was ever taken, prompting one congressional investigator to say with a sneer, “I call it the committee that was a crime!”
One of the first people to congratulate Frank on his performance before the House Select Committee on Crime was President Nixon, who exulted in the committee’s public embarrassment. Frank was touched by the phone call, and despite his animus toward Nixon over the years, decided to support the President for reelection in 1972. He even contributed $53,000 to the cause.
His action stirred outrage among those close to him, especially his outspoken daughter,