J Edgar Hoover denied existence of the Mob

Did the Mob managed to get hold of his crossdressing pics? Or he had a gambling problem and they let him keep winning to keep him happy?

I heard both stories,but the second seems more likely.I once read that Frank Costello made sure Hoover won at the race tracks,because he wouldn't take money.Not cash,anyway,but he would bet a dollar himself,and let somebody else place a real big bet for him.

Maybe both of them were true. Maybe not even one....
I think we'll never know...

Hoover was certainly more interested in chasing communists, which at the time was more important to most people.

Wait, Hoover saying something that was against reality and logic itself? Thats.....news to me!

That's the main reason he ignored the Mob--Commies provided him with an easy, headline-grabbing focus. The joke in the US at that time was that there were more FBI undercover agents in the Communist Party USA than actual Communists. If the FBI undercover guys stopped paying dues, the party would have folded.
Hoover has had several excellent biographies. The gambling story apparently was true. Hoover was a passionate horse-player, though not a degenerate gambler (he was a penny-ante bettor). It seems that he did get regular tips on fixed races from FBI agents, who got them from underworld contacts. It's quite possible that Costello was behind those tips. Hoover probably knew that the tips came from "the underworld" (whatever that meant to him), but he obviously looked the other way. The fact that he accepted those tips and made small bets doesn't necessarily mean that he turned a blind eye to the Mafia as a quid pro quo.
Hoover was a lifelong "mamma's boy" and bachelor, and he shared his home with his second-in-command, Clyde Tolson. Some people think this implies that he was gay. He might have been, but all of his biographers checked it out and could find no evidence. Doesn't mean he wasn't gay, just means they couldn't confirm it. The "drag" picture apparently is a myth.

My research into Costello pretty much backs up reports that he would pass on horse tips to Hoover through Walter Winchell. Hoover was usually a $2 bettor, but would have a flunky place his $50 bets when he had a tip.

Communist in the 50's was an excuse for the Fat Cats to go into other countries and line their pockets


Joe Batters

...and to squash dissent at home...