THE SETTING: When an Illinois casino license became available in the late 1990s, it triggered fierce competition between several cities, all eager to be chosen for the very-profitable, highly-coveted enterprise that is legitimate, big gambling in the Land of Lincoln.
THE WINNER:
In March 2004, the Illinois Gaming Board awarded the license to the City of Rosemont, Illinois, adjacent to O'Hare Airport.
THE FIX:
In response toallegations that criminal interests aligned with the "Chicago Outfit" (AKA "The Mob") were active in Rosemont, then Illinois Governor Blagojevich, now prisoner #40892-424 in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, hired Eric Holder, former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder during the Clinton Administration, to investigate, draft and release a report that would clear the Rosemont casino project with a clean bill of health.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT:
On March 24, 2004, Governor Blagojevich introduced former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Holder as the man who would investigate allegations of Rosemont corruption. The video of the announcement is no longer available. Only this photo taken at the event is available.
Here was Blagojevich's statement:
"Last Wednesday, I called on the Gaming Board to conduct a full, open, and public review of all the facts surrounding the issue of gaming in the Village of Rosemont. I also said that I would name a special investigator to work with the Gaming Board to help oversee that review and ensure the integrity of the review process. For that reason, it is essential to find an outsider--someone with no connections with the parties involved, or with any of the proceedings that have taken place. We wanted someone with no horse in the race. We wanted someone whose legal knowledge, reputation for integrity, and independence are indisputable. So today, I am announcing the appointment of Eric Holder as the special investigator to work with the Gaming Board to conduct this review."
THE FIRM:
Holder, representing the prestigious Washington, D. C. law firm of Covington & Barling, was to receive $300,000 of Illinois state money to issue a White Paper that would clear the somewhat sullied reputation of the Rosemont city administration.  The firm is widely recognized as a "A Shadow Justice Department" that represents "the biggest banks on Wall Street, and is internationally known for its white-collar defense practice."  As of last count, thirty attorneys have rotated in-and-out of the firm, to-and-from the U.S. Department of Justice. It is a DoJ revolving door. And, according to law.com, the firm has been "at the center of Washington's hottest controversies perhaps more frequently than any other D.C. firm."(After serving as the Attorney General during the Obama Administration, Holder returned to the firm where a corner office had been held open for him in his absence.)
THE SPOILERS:
Wayne Johnson, when a Chicago police officer, tracked Chicago mobsters for more than two decades. Before retiring from the Chicago Police Department, he was the supervisor of the organized crime section of the intelligence division. Then, for four years, he was Chief Investigator for the Chicago Crime Commission. In January, 2001, speaking before the Illinois Gaming Board, Johnson "sat down and began to denounce Rosemont Mayor Don Stephens as a man who associates with organized crime figures. He pointed to Peter DiFronzo, brother of John DiFronzo (more on him below), as a contributor to Stephens' campaign fund and owner of a trucking company that had a contract to haul materials during the casino's construction."
Illinois Better Government Association, in a December 2008 article, illustrated the scrutiny that came to Rosemont when the Illinois gambling license became available: "The mayor of Rosemont, whose suburb is among three finalists vying to land a casino, is giving back a campaign contribution from an allegedly mob-linked company. Mayor Bradley Stephens' action follows an inquiry by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association. The company--D&P Construction--gave $400 to the Regular Republican Voters League of Leyden Township, headed by Stephens, on Nov. 8, 2007. In 2001, the Illinois Gaming Board linked the company to 'individuals who have been identified as known members of organized crime.'"
James Wagner, former head of the FBI's organized crime squad in Chicago, and then with the Chicago Crime Commission, was quoted in a Chicago ABC News report (no longer available but cited earlierby the author) by investigative reporter Chuck Goudie, stating: "'I don't think it can be disputed there was a [mob] connection [with Rosemont] and it started with Giancana,' said Wagner. That would be Sam Giancana, omnipotent outfit boss in 1961, when [Donald] Stephens bought a motel from the man they called 'Momo.' Stephens claimed he bought it [the hotel] to oust the outfit. 'I didn't know Giancana, I had no interest in Giancana,' [Stephens] said in a December 2006 interview with the [Channel 7] I-Team. 'The position law enforcement had was how and when he paid it off and under what terms. No one ever knew,' Wagner said."
At the time of Blagojevich's appointment of Holder to investigate Rosemont, Wagner, as Chief Investigator of the Illinois Gaming Board, was quoted by the Chicago Sun Times(source) as stating that, "'The concern was Holder had a bias to do whatever Blagojevich wanted, which was to give the casino to Rosemont,' said Jim Wagner, who was a top Chicago FBI agent before he joined the Gaming Board, from which he retired in December 2005. 'We all believed the only reason Holder was coming in was to fashion an investigation that would manipulate the casino into Rosemont.'"
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan,in 2004, documented ties between Bradley Stephens' father, then-Rosemont Mayor Donald E. Stephens, and allegedly mob-linked individuals. One connection was through a subcontractor, D. & P. Construction, working on the casino site. Josephine DiFronzo, the company's owner, was married to Peter DiFronzo, making her the sister-in-law of John DiFronzo.
THE MOB: Josephine DiFronzo'sbrother-in-law, John "No Nose" DiFronzo, died on May 27, 2018, at age 89.  His nick name of "No Nose" (AKA: Johnny Bananas) came as a result of having a part of his nose shot off by the police in 1949 during an attempted robbery. According to the Chicago Tribune, "In 1997, the Chicago Crime Commission identified DiFronzo as being at the top of the Outfit's organizational chart, working with the help of advisers Joey "the Clown" Lombardo and Angelo LaPietra."
In a July 19, 2005 article, a Tribune reporter stated that:
"Days after lawmakers authorized the Emerald Casino's move to Rosemont in 1999, the suburb's longtime mayor, Donald Stephens, met with five high-ranking organized crime figures to discuss what control the mob would have over contracts at the casino, an FBI agent testified Monday. Sitting with Stephens at Armand's restaurant in Elmwood Park were reputed mob leader Joey 'The Clown' Lombardo, who is being sought by U.S. officials; John 'No Nose' DiFronzo; his brother Peter; Joe 'The Builder' Andriacchi; and Rudy Fratto, among others, said John Mallul, head of the FBI's organized crime unit in Chicago."
THE FIX FAILED:
Rosemont was denied a casino license.
As President Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder did not recuse himself from the case against, and prosecution of, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
On the 47-page document that Holder completed as part of his confirmation process as Attorney General, he did not mention the Rosemont casino episode.
The casino license was eventually granted to Des Plaines, IL--a suburb adjacent to Rosemont.
In 2015-2016, the Des Plaines River Casino, the busiest in Illinois, paid fines totally $3.65 million, in part for hiring contractors with reputed mob connections.
So, did Eric Holder collude--directly or indirectly--with the Chicago Outfit for a $300,000 payday?
Steve Bartin, editor of Newsalert, provided research support in the preparation of this article .
Since November 2007, Lee Cary has written hundreds of articles for several websites including the American Thinker, and Breitbart’s Big Journalism and Big Government (as “Archy Cary”). and the Canada Free Press. Cary’s work was quoted on national television (Sean Hannity) and on nationally syndicated radio (Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin). His articles have posted on the aggregate sites Drudge Report, Whatfinger, Lucianne, Free Republic, and Real Clear Politics. He holds a Doctorate in Theology from Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, is a veteran of the US Army Military Intelligence in Vietnam, and lives in Texas.
THE SETTING: When an Illinois casino license became available in the late 1990s, it triggered fierce competition between several cities, all eager to be chosen for the very-profitable, highly-coveted enterprise that is legitimate, big gambling in the Land of Lincoln.
Here was Blagojevich's statement:
