By Thomas Anderson
What word best describes an organized group of powerful politicians, federal agents, and celebrities who work together with criminals to enrich themselves beyond their roles as public servants or government watchdogs? Jay Z calls them the “Illuminati” while throwing up hand signs and rapping about their conquests. I call Jay Z’s group the Queens Political Machine, and from his perspective, they’re probably the closest thing to a world-dominating secret society there is to the “Illuminati”. This is because their members are people like former Attorney General Eric Holder, Congressman Gregory Meeks, and NYC Mayor Eric Adams. Powerful members of the black clergy like Reverend Floyd Flake are at the top of the organization, using his connections in finance from his days as a Congressman on the Financial Services Committee to act as the umbrella of capital the group wields in the private sector. Jay Z is their spokesperson, it’s his job to get the public behind projects like moving an NBA team out of New Jersey so a Putin-connected Russian Oligarch can play geopolitics from a multi-use entertainment and luxury housing development called Atlantic Yards. But it’s the failed acquisition of a casino license at the old Aqueduct racetrack that really gives one an understanding of the breadth and scope of the Queens Political Machine’s international multi-continent ambitions.
At 1:55 pm on May 13, 2010, then State Senator and Chairman of the New York Senate’s State Racing and Wagering Committee, Eric Adams testified for an official examination of the State of New York Office of the Inspector General. The office was investigating a rigged casino license process headed by then-Senator Adams that awarded a group Jay Z and Reverend Floyd Flake were investors in. This was happening while Congressman Gregory Meeks and his associates, Senator Malcolm Smith and Senator John Sampson, were involved in a scam charity connected to Hurricane Katrina and local development projects like the Aqueduct transition into a casino. Coverage by the New York Post based on the research I provided led to the Inspector General investigation that thwarted the entire endeavor. The Inspector General found, that the group I call the Queens Political Machine, had used their influence over elected officials to allow the winning bidder to escape any real scrutiny through the licensing review process. What was shocking, yet never thoroughly reported, was the international scope of the Aqueduct casino license rig job.
The Inspector General finally discovered the man dubbed the “biggest gambler in the world” was the actual money and power behind the Jay Z, Floyd Flake casino bid which was canceled after then-Governor David Paterson came under tremendous pubic pressure to disavow. “The Joker”, according to the latest reports, gambles more than $3 billion a year internationally. His trick is hiding ownership in casino and gaming interests like the one that the Queens Political Machine was attempting to slide past regulators. But how did such a shady character end up partnering with a pastor and rapper from Queens acting as the fronts for what would have been “The Joker’s” NYC headquarters? This is where Jay Z would come up with a good rhyme or two about the “Illuminati”, and from a certain perspective that’s correct, though I am attempting to lay it out in simpler less conspiratorial terms: they had help from the Obama White House.
Al Sharpton, another member of the Queens Political Machine, sat through a few hours of intense scrutiny from the State Inspector General investigating the rigged Jay Z casino license at the Aqueduct. In his testimony, he describes the frantic last-minute wranglings over the license that caused the state Senate to change leadership while consulting with the Obama White House through a gentleman named Patrick Gaspard. Gaspard was reportedly behind ending a political coup in the New York State Senate, with rumors he had President Obama make calls personally to end the coup. This coup is what allowed the Queens Political Machine to place Senator Malcolm Smith as pro-tempore leader, and Senator John Sampson as head of the casino license process. Both Senators ended up being convicted on federal criminal charges.
Gaspard went on to run the Soros Open Society groups after serving as Ambassador to South Africa. The international war over this license is what I believe ultimately caused President Obama to give a cold shoulder to New York’s first Black Governor the first time Obama visited New York as President. Jay Z would say the “Illuminati” forced the first black President, Obama, to politically disavow and end the career of the first black Governor of New York over a casino license Jay Z and Reverend Floyd Flake were bidding for. Maybe he’d be correct, but a deeper look at Flake and Jay-Z shows a more conventional political scheme at hand where the world got its first peak at international corruption sprouting from Queens, New York through this casino deal.
Back in the 80’s and 90’s Reverend Flake was building his political empire through community development from low-income, and senior housing developments. He’d frequently run into the gangs Jay Z was a part of, dealing drugs and creating mayhem in the communities Rev Flake was desperately trying to build up. Congressman Gregory Meeks was in the DA’s office at the time in charge of narcotics cases. It was on the streets of Queens where all three men would meet, all from totally different backgrounds but focused on the same goal: organizing one of America’s most powerful political organizations in the Queens Political Machine. This is how Flake once put it about how times were back then:
The Supreme Team was where Jay Z hung his hat and started his career as a rapper businessman. Its leader ultimately got busted for funneling drug money into the rap industry through the Jay Z connected Murder Inc. Former members of the Supreme Team have received federal grants earmarked by Congressman Gregory Meeks.
What’s interesting is the Queens Political Machine attempted to make McGriff, the leader of the Supreme Team, street legal but he refused because he wouldn’t accept a role underneath Jay Z and Irv Gotti. He eventually went to prison, and the Murder Inc. defendants were ultimately acquitted of all criminal charges. This could be another example of Jay Z’s “Illuminati” rigging the system for individuals aligned with him and his interests, or we could go back to the Aqueduct casino deal where Senator John Sampson gave the license to the Jay Z bidders. Senator Sampson was later convicted on federal criminal charges. What came up during his conviction proceedings was a mole discovered in the Federal Eastern District of New York. The same court that tried Murder Inc. and McGriff of the Supreme Team drug organization. The mole in Eastern District was a friend of Senator Sampson’s going back to their days in school.
Jay Z would once again throw up some hand signs and claim this is all “Illuminati” related activity and shows he’s a serious player on the international stage. He may be correct, but It’s more likely Jay Z and his political associates within the Queens Political Machine have become experts at wielding the sliver of influence they have through a handful of powerful pols.