Aug. 25, 1997
Details of a plot that involved the
Teamster's union and the Clinton White House laundering illegal
money for each other began to emerge in Washington last week.
From the Teamster's perspective, the
deal is quite clear. Union rules prohibit candidates for the Teamster
presidency from using union money for their campaign.
But Teamster's President Ron Carey
was in an extremely tight race with James P. Hoffa and desperately
needed money.
So he arranged for payment of union
money to Bill Clinton's campaign as well as State Democratic campaign
coffers.
In return, the DNC donated money directly
to Ron Carey's campaign.
He won the presidency, but his election
was overturned by a federal official last week, after an investigation
had found illegal campaign contributions.
From the White House perspective,
the details are still sketchy. It is clear that the White House
needed to launder money through the Teamster's Union, but the
source of the illegal money has yet to be documented.
It could be money from the Chinese
government or proceeds from an illegal operation.
The Washington Post on Saturday referenced
notes by DNC finance director Richard Sullivan that mention $1
million of Teamster's money next to the name of then-White House
political director Doug Sosnick.
The Washington Post also revealed
that Ron Carey's campaign manager worked for the Clinton-Gore
campaign.
This is not the first time that the
Clinton administration has made illegal deals with unions.
Charges against mob-controlled union
boss Arthur Coia were dropped by the Clinton Justice Department
after Coia made generous contributions to the Clinton campaign.
And a former Union official, F.C.
"Duke" Zeller, alleges that Mob lawyer Harold Ickes
oversaw a $56 million slush fund set up by Union mobsters to elect
Bill Clinton in 1992.
Harold Ickes later joined the White
House and briefly became chief of staff.
Ickes came under fire for his suspected
involvement in the Justice Department decision to drop the 212-count
racketeering suit against the Laborers International Union where
Arthur Coia was boss.
Published in the Aug. 25, 1997 issue of The Washington Weekly. Copyright © 1997 The Washington Weekly
(http://www.federal.com). Reposting permitted with this message intact.