The Questions for Perot about McCain and Gambling

Yesterday's New York Times front-page investigative story about John McCain's long time ties to the nation's gambling industry ("For McCain and Team, a Host of Ties to Gambling"), jogged my memory about an unsettling bit of information I was given by Ross Perot in 1995.

In November 1995, my wife and fellow author, Trisha, and I, interviewed Perot for several days for an unauthorized biography (Citizen Perot: His Life & Times, Random House, 1996). During one of our conversations, outside of the 'on the record' taped interviews, Perot discussed with us how he had utilized private investigators to uncover information about other people. Perot never used, from what I could determine, any of the personal details he assembled about others. Rather, he was merely a collector of information, never knowing when it might come in useful.

I discussed this with my editor, Bob Loomis. Without independent reporting, much of it was no more than informed gossip. Perot had passed along personal details about Barbara Walters family, Clinton chief of staff Leon Penneta, and business tycoon Peter Ueberroth, someone Perot had seriously considered as a vice-presidential candidate in his own 1992 presidential run.

From our interviews with Perot about the Vietnam POW/MIA issue, it was clear there was no love lost between Perot and a number of public officials who opposed his efforts to keep looking for soldiers he believed had been left behind and were alive. On Perot's most disliked list was George Herbert Bush, who as Reagan's vice-president had shut the door to any further government probe on the matter. Richard Armitage, George W. Bush's ex-deputy Secretary of State, had earned Perot's eternal animosity because of his conclusion that there were no MIAs left in Southeast Asia. And the final person to earn Perot's enmity was John McCain, who as a decorated war hero, and then Senator, had also closed the door to any further MIA investigations.

Bob Loomis and I decided that I should not report Perot's personal details about these men and women, with two exceptions. Regarding Ueberroth, I wrote in Citizen Perot that one Perot campaign insider had concluded that "Ueberroth was the perfect match," but that "Perot and Mort Meyerson (Perot's top business executive at EDS) personally made inquiries about him and eventually opted for a stand-in candidate."

And as for Armitage, Perot's information was so detailed, including even surveillance photos of Armitage in supposedly compromising situations, I did report it. And Armitage was generous in giving me extensive interviews that helped explain the background and put into context Perot's one man war on him.

I am only reporting now Perot's rumor/information about McCain because of today's New York Times story. Perot told me that McCain had a gambling problem and he had uncovered details that McCain was bailed out in the late 1980s from a big gambling debt by his wife, Cindy.

If true, it raises a question as to whether McCain's gambling might ever have put him in a situation where he was pressed to repay his debt through Senatorial favors.

An enterprising reporter has to ask Ross Perot if he will acknowledge what he shared with me 14 years ago, and if so, if he will now provide the evidence to back up the assertion. Perot hasn't talked to me since I published my unauthorized biography, so unfortunately, I am not the person to ask. And some reporter should ask McCain, directly, if he has ever had a gambling debt that his wife had to pay off. American voters have a right to know.

Comments

[omac112211]

Say what you want about Perot, he paid for McCain's first wife's medical bills while she was recovering from car accident.

Also the Nancy and Ronald Reagans gave McCain's first wife a job, after he left her for Cindy.

Nancy Reagan will not endorse McCain, no matter how many times he mentions her late husband!!

[StephenCRose]

Good points to remember. Best, S

[Momma4Obama]

And probably at the behest of someone she owed a favor to or to shore up support for her late husband's memory. Mrs. Reagan in my opinion has always been a classy lady, and itwould serve her well not to allow any of these wannabes to invoke her Ronnie's name as if it's Jesus or something.

[JulieSA]

She did endorse him, although with faint praise.

[Marilyn5401]

She doesn't need to...Bill Clinton is doing it for her!

I can't believe the nice things he is saying about MCain after what McCain said about Chelsea. It's really hard for me to fathom...

[ruthinking]

Gambling losses are tax DEDUCTIBLE; losses due to home sales are NOT. Write Charles Rangel, Committee Chair, Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515, demanding tax relief for home sale, including foreclosures.

[lindro]

Tax deductible only if it was legal gambling. If it was illegal, then we could be talking favors for some shifty characters.

[BrandonAbell]

Deductible against winnings only. It's to make sure you're only being taxed on any net profit.

[ListenAndLearn]

Gambling losses are tax deductible up to the amount of gambling winnings. Losses that exceed winnings are not tax deductible.

[GiggidyGeshmoygen]

(comment posted 04:03 PM on 09/29/2008 by burbankliberal) >>>>>>>>>

Ten years ago, I vacationed with family at Caesars Palace in LV. John McCain was at a craps table at 3:00 in the afternoon that day. He was still at the same table, in the same clothes, at 11:00 the next morning. Tell me, is that obsessive gambling or is it just bad grooming?

==========­==========­==========­==========­===

(my comment/reply) >>>>>>>>>

Do you realize that National Enquirer might pay good money for this story if you can document (receipts, etc) that you were there and that McCain was also there ?

there might even be others out there like yourself who also have had verifiable Johnny sightings or encounters

==========­==========­==========­==========­===

Does anyone else have an interesting (and verifiable) Johhny sighting or story to share ?

[newdreams]

This needs to be out there for people to see. They would want to know. We just can't afford a gambler in the White House..

[sammy cole]

Geez...if McCain happened to get elected...­....imagin­e the new CRAP TABLE and TANNING BED replacing the OVAL OFFICE DESK.

[Otaku1031]

There's about a million cameras in Caesar's keeping an eye on the tables, slots etc. How long do they keep the tapes?

[cbates]

The question is why is the right wing evangelicals supporting him over a man that believes in a woman's right to choose. When you say the woman has the right to choose doesn't mean you have to agree with her choice. The best we can do is to help anyone with the choice so that we all will be safe from their choices. The second thing is to try and reduce the necessity to make a choice that goes against many of our norms

[piper1233]

Reviewing McCains record he has done more to hurt / less to help (you choose) Veterans than most of his non veteran colleages.

[likeicare]

Wow! Why isn't this all over the MSM????!!!!

If it was Obama, the right-wing nut jobs would be on this like white-on-rice!!

Can you say, double standard?

[DickTater]

So many stories, so little Media accountability.

Sure they could check out the gambling.
How about that Johnny mcPOW! has a son Andrew who was just chin deep in a banking fiasco. Silver State Bank of Nevada. Younger mcPOW! was the chief auditor and director I believe. He was in charge of accountabi­lity....ma­king sure the investments were worth the dollars for the investors. He slunk away DAYS before it was taken over by the feds. This all just happened about 3 weeks ago. Where is the media? If nothing else ever was, THAT is a story....esp. in these times with bank failures and regulation on the daily platter.

[martinchill]

the wall street journal, cnn, bloomberg, marketwatch and others covered it - about three weeks ago.

you're right, tho - it wasn't heard over the din.

[peterperfect]

Wow, I guess not knowing much about the economy runs in the family -- and we can add banking to that as well. What a chicken*hit thing to do, too -- citing 'personal reasons' to leave the bank...

[guyanajones]

AT first I thought it was a diabolical plot.Run the country so far into debt that you could get rid of all the entitlements.But then,as luck would have it,we had a huge surplus that could be given to the needy.Mr.B­uffet,alth­ough he said he didn't need the 300 million."bless him".But then as luck would have it a Mr.wolfowitz came calling about getting a rose collection together in Baghdad.Well the rose collection didn't work out.But about a trillion was spent on that.Mr.Wolfowitz was fired from the World Bank for padding the payroll and his sweetie.Next up the Wall Street darlings.B­S,LEH,WAMU­,etc.They were good for billions of taxpayer infusion cash.They even have their own window.Next up,Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae those numbers would give Einstein a headache.Now we have to cover the NINJA LOANS. No job,No income,No assests.700B.This group in Washinton have exceeded the wildest dreams of the entitiement elimanation squad.Shut up and drink your "kool Aid.

[vippy]

And they wanted to get their greedy hands on the WANTAN FUNDS of 4.3 trillion dollar without
any oversight - imagine that. They got caught! So now we get a diluted version of the bailout
which we do not need. Black Friday was a lot worse and we managed to pull through.
Why is everyone losing their cool over this, it is not the end of the world. Do the right thing and
vote them out of office for incompetence.

[TXfemmom]

Gambling is an addiction, and he hasn't gotten treatment for it, and that type of thing causes individuals to take chances which would be inconsistent with being in a position to make choices which would effect the lives of Americans. McCain seems to have several very serious character flaws which not serve the country or McCain well.

[dsmyre]

McCain's campaign has massive ties to the gambling industry. Gambling lobbyists on the McCain staff.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/27/mccains-gambling-problem_n_129937.html

[musselmanm]

I think Senator McCain a his pick for his VP have officially CRAPPED OUT!

[mysterygirl18]

The reason why you bring this up is this- Mccain portrays himself as a person with no flaws-

http://www.myspace.com/wakeupnowpeople

[zitlight73]

Then he calls the same woman a c@#t, that's graditude for you. What a guy.

[nolandalla]

So, Sen. John McCain enjoys gambling. Big freakin' deal.

The VAST MAJORITY of Americans *also* enjoy gambling, as proven by the proliferation of casinos in two-thirds of the states, as well as a booming online sports gambling and Internet poker market, largely fueled by American consumers).

At least two former Presidents in the modern era were avid gamblers -- Harry Truman and Richard Nixon. Truman was such a devoted poker player that he scheduled activities around weekly poker games. It's all part of the record. And this was during the height of the Cold War.

Republican advisors reportedly tried to keep McCain away from the craps tables in 2000, fearing they might lose the Neanderthal religious vote, which quite simply doesn't approve of anyone having fun in America. Anyone here want to align themselves with that crowd?

If McCain acted unethically in his dealings with Indian casinos, then let's see the evidence. Otherwise, I find this insinuation that McCain is unstable because he enjoys gambling to be utterly repulsive.

We already have a Christian, non-drinking, anti-gamblilng crusader in the White House -- which has produced catastrophic results. Give me a man who understands probability and risk versus reward ratios (like Barack Obama) over a holier than thou moralist any day. I also tend to think it's okay that my elected leaders are allowed to have a little fun in their free time.

I'm certainly not voting for John McCain. But these attacks on him as a gambler are ridiculous.

[dsmyre]

If McCain repays gambling debts with political favors, voters need to know.

[dsmyre]

McCain's campaign has massive ties to the gambling industry.
Gambling lobbyists on the McCain staff.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/27/mccains-gambling-problem_n_129937.html

[JohnDrake6]

If he understood probability wouldn't he be playing twentyone instead of his favorite game, craps?

[Tommygun264]

The vast majority of Americans who also enjoy gambling don't rack up MASSIVE GAMBLING DEBTS. The problem isn't gambling. The problem is not knowing when to stop or not being able to due to an addiction, which could be exploited by those seeking to influence a powerful politician with things to hide.

[RRonin]

You don't have a gambling problem if you can afford to pay off your debts. This is the least of Bush #44's problems.....