BOSTON—House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said Monday he decided against golfing with developer Donald Trump at an exclusive club in Florida last weekend because it may have created an appearance problem amid a Statehouse debate over legalizing casino gambling in Massachusetts.
The Boston Democrat said he never accepted the invitation but his brother-in-law, Cape Cod real estate broker Robert Kinlin, may have. Regardless, DiMasi said that when he heard about the offer to play at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, he said no.
"I'm sure, because (Trump) thinks that the casino bill is up in Massachusetts, that he may have an interest in it, that he wants to talk to me about it, but the word I gave, sent back to him, was, `Come to Boston, come to my Statehouse, you can talk to me anytime you want,'" DiMasi told reporters after addressing a Statehouse biotechnology meeting.
DiMasi did acknowledge previously taking his wife, Debbie, as well as Kinlin and Kinlin's wife, to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's seaside estate in Palm Beach. Kinlin is Debbie DiMasi's brother.
Besides being a New York developer and host of "The Apprentice" on NBC-TV, Trump is a casino operator in Atlantic City. He has expressed interest in one of the three casino licenses Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed for Massachusetts, an idea DiMasi has said he opposes.
"I was at a conference of the national speakers at Palm Beach, and there was somebody who was a businessman that knew me from Massachusetts that did some business with Donald Trump and said, `Would you mind going over and saying hello and meeting him?' I said, `No, I wouldn't mind.' I said, `I have to go out to dinner with my in-laws and we'll stop over there for a meeting, say hello,' and then left. It was about 10 or 15 minutes, that's all."
The Boston Globe first reported about the golfing invitation and Mar-a-Lago visit, as well as DiMasi's decision to play golf twice recently with Joe O'Donnell, co-owner of Suffolk Downs.
The East Boston horsetrack is interested in one of the casino licenses, and key Beacon Hill players are being lobbied heavily by both sides of the debate. DiMasi has previously met in the Statehouse with Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.
Patrick has cast casino gambling it as a way to capture some of the estimated $1.1 billion in annual gaming revenues lost to neighboring Connecticut and Rhode Island, as well as to create jobs in Massachusetts and a fresh funding source for cities and towns. Those communities have suffered as Lottery play that finances local aid has dwindled.
DiMasi has argued that legalizing casinos will trigger a series of social problems, from crime to failed marriages to gambling addiction.
Nonetheless, after opposing a series of gubernatorial initiatives last year, he has recently shown a willingness to work with Patrick, propelling a life sciences bill for debate this week and agreeing two weeks ago to corporate tax loophole closings he previously opposed.
A Statehouse hearing on Patrick's proposal was postponed last week because it coincided with school vacations, but supporters of the plan -- including Boston Mayor Thomas Menino -- held a news conference to highlight union and civic support for the idea.
The speaker's interest in golfing in well known in the Statehouse. He is a member at the Ipswich Country Club, where he maintains an 8.2 handicap.
The Globe reported one of his rounds with O'Donnell was earlier this month at the McArthur Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., where Kinlin is a member. The other round was about two months ago at the Floridian Yacht & Golf Club, where O'Donnell is allowed to bring guests.
In his conversation with reporters, DiMasi contrasted playing golf with O'Donnell, a longtime friend, with Trump, a new acquaintance.
"Obviously, I'm not going to be swayed just because I played golf with somebody, because the issue is too important and, obviously, this is not any benefit to me, it's basically, I always pay for myself. I'm, you know, as you know, I'm very careful and cautious about that. And I see no reason why I can't play with people that I've known for 30 years. Donald Trump was a different story, so I didn't," DiMasi said.
The speaker also suggested he should be praised, not pilloried, for turning down the invitation.
"I think that should be something that should be lauded, something that says, `Well, jeez, you know, the speaker was invited, (Trump's) a big celebrity, and he still refused, and that shows that the speaker is very conscious and has an ethical approach to making these kinds of decisions and staying away from the appearance of things that shouldn't be," he said.
