-Caveat Lector-
September 26, 2000
Grand jury probes Trumka money-laundering charges
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Visit our Election 2000 page for daily election news and analysis
One of Vice President Al Gore's most active campaigners, Richard
L. Trumka, the No. 2 AFL-CIO official, is under investigation in
a money-laundering plan involving the Democratic Party and ousted
Teamsters' President Ron Carey.
The probe has focused on accusations that Mr. Trumka laundered
$150,000 in AFL-CIO funds to Mr. Carey's re-election campaign
through a consumer-advocacy group known as Citizen Action. The
suspected scheme involves a trade-off of funds between Mr.
Carey and the Democratic Party.
A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed AFL-CIO records
concerning the donations. While prosecutors have declined to
comment, they recently blocked the Teamsters Union from going to
court to seek $9 million in damages, saying it would undermine a
criminal investigation.
Mr. Trumka, former head of the United Mine Workers, was a
featured speaker at the Democratic National Convention this year
in Los Angeles and was instrumental in securing the AFL-CIO
endorsement of Mr. Gore. A receptionist said he was unavailable
yesterday and referred inquiries to the AFL-CIO press office,
which did not return calls for comment.
Doug Hattaway, Gore campaign spokesman, also did not return
calls.
It is not illegal for Teamsters to donate to Democratic causes,
but U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said in a court brief that a top
Carey aide, Martin Davis, came to see the planned donations "as a
means to induce the [Democratic National Committee] to raise
money for the Carey campaign."
She wrote that Davis, who admitted to illegally diverting funds
to Mr. Carey's 1996 re-election bid, discussed the scheme with
Clinton-Gore and DNC officials.
Authorities said Davis promised Terry McAuliffe, President
Clinton's chief campaign fund-raiser, that the union would spend
unprecedented sums to elect Democrats if the Clinton-Gore
campaign or the DNC would persuade donors to contribute to Mr.
Carey.
Mr. Trumka refused to testify before the grand jury and a House
subcommittee investigation of the Carey campaign � invoking his
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney said he did not know Mr.
Trumka used $150,000 from his union's treasury until months
later, when the probe began. He has since adopted a
two-signature requirement for cash outlays but has not acted
against Mr. Trumka.
Last year, the Teamsters' former political director, William N.
Hamilton, was convicted on charges of embezzlement, fraud and
perjury in the diversion of $885,000 in union funds to the
Democratic Party. Hamilton's indictment said Mr. Trumka agreed
with Davis to transfer the $150,000 to Citizen Action, which then
routed $100,000 to Davis' direct-mail firm. Davis used the money
to pay for the Carey campaign's direct-mail program.
Hamilton was charged with diverting campaign funds to Democrats
in exchange for donations to Mr. Carey's campaign. Mr.
Carey's receipt of those funds led to his ouster as Teamsters
president. Others named in connection with the probe were Mr.
McAuliffe and Harold Ickes, former White House deputy chief of
staff, who led fund raising in the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign.
Hamilton was convicted on the testimony of several government
witnesses and Democratic Party officials who outlined a kickback
scheme involving the DNC, the Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, top White
House aides and the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election committee.
Authorities said illegal donations were diverted to finance Mr.
Carey's campaign.
During the Hamilton trial, Richard Sullivan, the DNC's former
finance director, said Mr. McAuliffe encouraged him to find a
donor for Mr. Carey's campaign. In exchange, the Teamsters would
donate to a Democratic fund-raising group.
Prosecutors focused on two memos written by Laura Hartigan, a
Clinton-Gore campaign official who worked for Mr. McAuliffe.
In the memos, she directed Davis to spend union money on dozens
of state Democratic parties in the 1996 election and included
instructions regarding amounts, contacts and addresses.
Davis forwarded Miss Hartigan's instructions to Hamilton, who
�with Mr. Carey � later approved the expenditures.
Mr. McAuliffe then received credit on tally sheets maintained by
the DNC. Shortly after Miss Hartigan's memos, Davis joined her
and Mr. McAuliffe at the White House for lunch with Mr.
Clinton.
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