Excerpts from the FBI files on Frank Sinatra

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 1998 | 9:21 a.m.

Excerpts from the FBI files on Frank Sinatra:

-A May 13, 1947, memo from Clyde Tolson to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover: "I talked this afternoon to Mr. Lee Mortimer, of the New York Daily Mirror, who wanted to ask me some questions concerning Frank Sinatra. ... (He) was interested in Sinatra's arrest on a sex offense ... I merely indicated that he might secure information as to the ultimate disposition of the charge by contacting the prosecutor of the bills."

-- A Feb. 21, 1955, FBI memorandum: "One informant alleged in 1945 that he had been told that Sinatra had recently been admitted to membership in the ... Communist Party. This informant was described as confidential and reliable. Sinatra's association with numerous gangsters and hoodlums including Lucky Luciano and Willie Moretti were set out."

-- A Sept. 11, 1967, memorandum from the special agent-in-charge of the Las Vegas office: Sinatra went to Sands casino to apologize to pit dealers for unmentioned bad actions several nights earlier. Words were exchanged and when a security guard approached, Sinatra hit him over the head with a chair. The casino manager, Carl Cohen, came over, "and in the words of our informant, 'really decked him.' According to our source, Sinatra had at least two front teeth knocked out." The reporting agent commented "that Cohen will be in real trouble now."

-- A July 13, 1960, memo about then-Sen. John F. Kennedy, a Sinatra friend and the likely Democratic candidate for president: "The bureau and the director have enjoyed friendly relations with Senator Kennedy and his family for a number of years. ... As you are aware, allegations of immoral activities on Senator Kennedy's part have been reported to the FBI over the years. These allegations are not being treated in detail in this memorandum."

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