As B wrote earlier, the shirt's been confirmed. We can't say more. Sometimes because of the delicate nature of a situation additional supporting evidence can't be released. It's frustrating, but I hope you understand.gohnjotti wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 6:38 pmHow did Scott confirm the shirt thing? I must have missed that.Antiliar wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 6:06 pmThat's fair. It's also far from just outright dismissing sources from other researchers because they don't happen to be Capeci. I can't speak for Scott's vetting process, but I can speak to my own. Nowhere did I state that I know for a fact that my source's info is 100% accurate, but based on what I know about him it's enough to take his information seriously. I shared because I thought those with an interest in Chicago would be interested. But some like Wiseguy dismiss all that without evidence just based on his own bias.gohnjotti wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 5:39 pmCapeci has decades and decades of mob journalism under his belt, and has a proven track record with his sources (albeit it seems his sources have slowly dried up over time). Time and time again, his sources - both LE and on the street - have been correct more often than they have not, and when his sources are wrong he is quick to amend them. Especially in the '90s, Capeci's day-to-day reporting of things like the Colombo War were later proven correct in federal court. Even today, he is often the first to reveal cooperating witnesses in a case, upcoming indictments or grand jury investigations.
Burnstein and his sources might be 100% right about the Bonanno situation; should he be proven right, his credibility will go up. As of right now, in my view, Burnstein has not built up the same sort of resume and track record as Capeci. That doesn't mean Capeci is infallible - the Dennis DeLucia thing comes to mind, where he inaccurately reported that DeLucia had was cooperating with LE, and then amended it the following week. But I think when researching the mob and analyzing the quality of source information, we have to put Capeci higher than Burnstein. No disrespect to Burnstein, I would put Capeci ahead of just about every active NY mob journalist.
Getting back to Scott, I think he's doing basically the same thing. He has a source that he personally vetted for credibility and shared the source's inside information with his readers because he thought they would find the information interesting. Scott confirmed what he could (like the shirt), but the rest will have to wait and see.
But yes, I think we're basically in agreement here. I am rooting for Scott to be vindicated, for an indictment to come out or for other news outlets to pick it up. With most of the mainstay mob journalists retiring or nearing retirement, it's good to have a fresh face exclusively covering the present-day mob.
I haven't seen much in the way of Capeci's street sources recently, but he has always been pretty clued up on the Bonanno family. Was he the first to report on the Bonanno funeral brawl? That would indicate he has relevant sources to this situation. I think most of his sources today are in LE, which is why he still has a knack for predicting upcoming indictments or outing the names of CWs. Due to the recent LE attention on Mancuso - as someone mentioned, Capeci covered Mancuso this week's GL - you would think Capeci would have caught onto this. With all due respect, I also don't think Capeci is neglecting to cover this because he sees Scott as a competitor or doesn't want to step on his toes. I don't think that has ever been a factor in Capeci's journalism; traditionally, multiple news outlets cover events from every angle, and Capeci frequently collaborates with other journalists and hosts their articles in some of his GL articles.Antiliar wrote: ↑Fri Feb 24, 2023 6:06 pm And since it's been mentioned, I don't think Capeci not mentioning the story isn't a good reason to dismiss it. There's many reasons why Capeci hasn't mentioned it. Maybe he doesn't have relevant sources. Maybe he sees Scott as a competitor. Or maybe he just doesn't want to step on Scott's toes. There's many possible reasons. In the end it's just an argument from silence.
I agree with you that Capeci not mentioning the story isn't a good reason to dismiss it, but I would contend that Capeci would be and has traditionally been the main guy to cover this stuff, especially the recent Bonanno affairs over the past few years.
Yes, Capeci is the main guy, especially on contemporary New York happenings. I've appreciated his work for many years. I was just putting out possible reasons since I, like you, don't know why he hasn't covered it yet. For reasons I can't share I can say that I'm confident in the gist of what Scott wrote but have no opinion on some of the details. Since you don't know what I know I understand a certain degree of skepticism. Skepticism is fair and I tend to be skeptical myself. I appreciate you keeping an open mind.