OMERTA

Trump Tight-Lipped on Pic of Him and Philly Mobster

His campaign won’t say if he knows Joey Merlino.

The Trump campaign isn’t saying much about how an infamous former mob boss ended up taking a picture with the ex-president at the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach earlier this month. Ex-con Joey Merlino, who reputedly ran Philadelphia’s organized crime family, is seen giving a thumb’s up with Donald Trump in the photo obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer. “President Trump takes countless photos with people. That does not mean he knows every single person he comes in contact with,” a campaign spokesperson said, declining to say whether Trump knows Merlino or was aware of his history. The Inquirer notes that the picture may “renew concerns among Trump loyalists eager to help him retake the White House next year that he still lacks the sort of protective political infrastructure that would prevent a candidate for president from taking a picture with a convicted mobster whose last stint in federal prison ended in mid-2020.”