If democracy is for sale then Sheldon Adelson appears to have the winning bid. Having already pumped $55 million into the Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund earlier this year, he’s donating untold millions more in an 11th-hour attempt to swing the November elections. Apparently 
Adelson can afford to buy a Congress but not a convincing toupee. The pro quo to Adelson’s quid was provided by a certain “short-fingered vulgarian” (™ Graydon Carter) who put a heavy hand on the scales of Japan’s casino-selection process. “It was totally brought up out of the blue. They were a little incredulous that [Donald Trump] would be so brazen,” said one source. “After Trump told [Shinzo] Abe he should strongly consider Las Vegas Sands for a license, ‘Abe didn’t really respond, and said thank you for the information,'” reports ProPublica. What else could Abe do?
Although Adelson was rightly considered a frontrunner in the Japanese casino sweepstakes, this revelation taints any victory he might have. Also-rans are sure to point to Trump’s intervention and accuse Abe of being susceptible to outside political influence. But the tampering may already have achieved 
its intended result. “The estimates by people who know, say they know, whom we believe they know, say that we’re in the No. 1 pole position,” Adelson told investors. Insists Sands spokesman Ron Reese, “If our company has any advantage it would be because of our significant Asian operating experience and our unique convention-based business model. Any suggestion we are favored for some other reason is not based on the reality of the process in Japan or the integrity of the officials involved in it.” (Note the skill with which Reese throws shade on “the officials involved.”)
Source differ on whether Trump also pimped MGM Resorts International or Wynn Resorts to Abe. But MGM backed Hillary Clinton while Steve Wynn was firmly in Trump’s corner — and Trump has nothing if not a long memory and a superhuman ability to carry grudges.
When Trump was still a (incompetent) casino mogul Adelson “didn’t have a whole lot of respect for Trump … He was dismissive of Trump,” says a former Sheldon employee. How the pendulum 
has swung. He now holds unprecedented influence within the Trump administration. Cross him and you’re out of a job. “I want my legacy to be that I helped out humankind,” he claims, while we wait for the laughter to subside. In the meantime, Adelson has tapped SoftBank tycoon Masayoshi Son as a potential (minority?) partner in a Japanese casino. (A former Sega Sammy executive now holds a top position in the U.S. embassy, which tells you the high priority Washington puts on this casino business.)
Don’t expect scrutiny from Adelson’s Las Vegas Review-Journal, which is more inclined to run hit pieces on the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (Adelson’s bete noire) and run a mind-boggling three endorsements for Marco Rubio‘s failed presidential campaign. Adelson never came out for Rubio but was believed to have looked upon him with considerable favor and the R-J‘s behavior was unusual in the extreme. Poor Sharron Angle only got one endorsement from fanboys Sherman Frederick and Thomas Mitchell.
Then there is China, where an aggressive trade war could complicate the renewal of Adelson’s gaming concession. “As one of Trump’s principal supporters, it’s undoubtedly a good time for Mr. Adelson to have a private conversation with the president,” wrote 
columnist and former Sands board member George Koo. Sheldon’s already gotten into hot water over there. “On Jan. 19, 2017, the day before Trump took office, the Justice Department announced Sands was paying a nearly $7 million fine to settle a longstanding investigation into whether it violated a U.S. anti-bribery statute in China,” ProPublica writes. The DoJ settlement, in essence, said Sands had assented to the problems and promised to do better. When you’re wealthy as Adelson, $7 million is getting off cheap to stay out of court. (Adelson, would however, be chagrined by the fact that ProPublica illustrates Macao with a photo of competitors Lisboa and Wynn Macau.)
Although Adelson claims to have left-leaning positions on a 
number of issues including abortion and immigration, he’s clearly all too willing to sell them down the river in return for influence. It’s a Faustian pact that doesn’t surprise us coming from a man who wants a casino in North Korea, the despotic country that the Heritage Foundation ranks 180th in human rights. That’s last place, in case you’re tabulating, Sheldon.
Incidentally, Sands has booked the musical Bat Out of Hell for a limited run at The Venetian, starting (rather tastelessly) on Christmas Day. If this is your thing, ticket sales begin Oct. 20, starting at $59. The show’s theme of an “eternally young” street tribe should resonate with Adelson, whose business strategies are predicated on his living forever, or at least well into the 22nd century.
* Speaking of mortality, Nye County brothel owner — and legislative candidate — Dennis Hof (R) passed away in his sleep. This at least ends a source of embarrassment for gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt and Sen. Dean Heller (R), both of whom where trying to keep Hof at arm’s length, if not further. Our former colleague Arnold Knightly had the unenviable task of announcing Hof’s death.
* At least Sheldon Adelson can buy his way out of trouble. No such luck for Native Americans, who remain second-class citizens in their own country.
