Acting Attorney General Questioned About Adelson Wire Act Ties Matthew Whitaker, Acting US Attorney General, said on Friday that nothing “corrupt” occurred when the Department of Justice suddenly changed an eight-year-old legal interpretation in a way that clearly benefited President Donald Trump’s biggest political donor, casino oligarch Sheldon Adelson. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) asked Whitaker whether he was involved in the January decision of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel to alter an established legal interpretation of the Federal Wire Act in order to further limit online gambling and whether he had any communications…

Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson insists that no one can stop children from gambling online. One of his casinos in Pennsylvania proves he’s not very good at it doing in brick-and-mortar facilities. The Lehigh Valley News reported that “A New Jersey woman has been cited with underage gambling after being found on the gaming floor at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem.” This report came before the likely fine to Sands Bethlehem that will be handed out by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board after an investigation into the matter. While it’s certainly difficult for casinos to be perfect on stopping underage gambling, it…

A week ago came the first inklings that the second-largest casino operator might be interested in buying a property from the world’s largest, as MGM Resorts International was showing interest in perhaps purchasing the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Pennsylvania from Las Vegas Sands. The Morning Call of Allentown was among the outlets reporting a week ago that Pennsylvania gaming officials had confirmed a deal was in the works and that Sands Bethlehem had already notified its employees of the possibility. Then on Wednesday came a follow-up report that a deal had been reached, with “an agreement in principle” having…

Vice President Mike Pence will sit down with Sheldon Adelson behind closed doors on Friday, a meeting that cements the Republican billionaire’s place as a key adviser to the new administration. Pence, who is speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition that meets at Adelson’s hotel and casino in Las Vegas, The Venetian, will chat formally with Adelson just before he addresses the entire RJC on Friday evening, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting. Adelson, who disclosed nearly $80 million in donations to conservative groups in the 2016 cycle, is the country’s most prolific Republican donor, and he…

After three months of speculation that Sheldon Adelson might back out of the Raiders’ stadium deal in Las Vegas, the casino billionaire finally made the move Monday and officially cut all ties with the team. In a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Adelson said that his family “will no longer be involved in any facet of the stadium discussion.” In October, Adelson had threatened to pull out of the deal because he didn’t like the terms that the Raiders were offering. “They want so much,” Adelson said at the time. “So I told my people, ‘Tell them I could…

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson sanctimoniously demanding a federal monopoly on the exploitation of fashionable debaucheries is like a dog walking on his hind legs. It is done awkwardly, but you are surprised to see it done at all. Mr. Adelson has accumulated a net worth of $33.6 billion. He is a casino magnate. His stupendous wealth comes from gratifying sordid hormonal cravings: instant riches and creature comforts worthy of King Louis XIV. It may be that the casino czar sheds a tear for the collateral damage of his vulgar enterprises: personal bankruptcies; broken hearts; shattered families; and dissipated lives. But if…