Roy Marcus Cohn (February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor who came to prominence for his role as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, when he assisted McCarthy's investigations of suspected communists. In the late 1970s and during the 1980s, he became a prominent political fixer in New York City. He also represented and mentored New York City real estate developer and future President Donald Trump during his early business career. Photograph by Bernard Gotfryd
In 1971, Donald Trump first undertook large construction projects in Manhattan. In 1973, the Justice Department accused Trump of violating the Fair Housing Act in 39 of his properties. The government alleged that Trump's corporation quoted different rental terms and conditions and made false "no vacancy" statements to African Americans for apartments it managed in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Representing Trump, Cohn filed a countersuit against the government for $100 million, asserting that the charges were "irresponsible and baseless." The countersuit was unsuccessful.[50] Trump settled the charges out of court in 1975, saying he was satisfied that the agreement did not "compel the Trump organization to accept persons on welfare as tenants unless as qualified as any other tenant." The corporation was required to send a bi-weekly list of vacancies to the New York Urban League, a civil rights group, and give the league priority for certain 1978, the Trump Organization was again in court for violating terms of the 1975 settlement; Cohn called the new charges "nothing more than a rehash of complaints by a couple of planted malcontents." Trump denied the charges. Cohn was allegedly involved in the construction of Trump Tower. Trump Tower was to be built with concrete, however, at the time there was a city-wide Teamster strike and most unions in Manhattan were controlled by or had ties to organized crime. Cohn had represented mobsters in the past like Carmine Galante and Anthony Salerno. Salerno and Paul Castellano at the time controlled the concrete unions in Manhattan and, when Donald Trump needed concrete, he received it from union leader John Cody who was linked to mob boss Castellano.[52] Rupert Murdoch was a client, and Cohn repeatedly pressured President Ronald Reagan to further Murdoch's interests. He is credited with introducing Trump and Murdoch, in the mid-1970s.
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Location: New York, NY
Photo credit: © American Photo Archive / Alamy / Afripics
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