Documents Demanded By Gov Of IBT Secretary Treasurer Ken Hall

Documents Demanded By Gov Of IBT Secretary Treasurer Ken Hall

BLOOMBERG BNA REPORTS ON THE TEAMSTER ELECTION
http://www.tdu.org/bloomberg_bna
POSTED ON NOVEMBER 04, 2016
[Re-posted from Bloomberg BNA]

The secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters intentionally withheld documents from officials who are working to root out corruption in the union, an investigator said.

A court-appointed independent investigator Oct. 31 alleged IBT Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall, the union’s second in command, withheld e-mails and other documents from review earlier this year. The obstruction was intentional and happened while Hall knew about the investigation “of current high ranking Teamster officers, fund trustees and union employees, including Hall,” investigator Joseph E. diGenova said in the statement.

DiGenova is looking into practices of union officers and employees receiving payments and gifts from employers and others doing business with the union. The investigation earlier this year led to Rome Aloise, an IBT vice president, being accused of corruption. Aloise is alleged to have received tickets to a Super Bowl party sponsored by Playboy magazine from an employer negotiating with the union.

The Teamsters entered a consent decree in 1989 to address corruption. The work of the Independent Review Board that oversaw that process has ended, but an independent investigations officer is still monitoring the union. The findings were submitted to IBT President James P. Hoffa.

October Surprise?
The allegations come in the midst of the IBT executive election, which started in early October. Hall is seeking re-election on a slate with Hoffa, the longtime incumbent president.

Teamsters spokesman Bret Caldwell told Bloomberg BNA Nov. 3 that the charges against Hall are “baseless, without merit and politically motivated,” intended to disrupt the union’s general election.

“Joe diGenova, the Independent Investigation Officer (IIO), has turned a garden variety discovery dispute into World War III in order to interfere with the ongoing Teamsters national election,” Caldwell said in an e-mail statement. “There is no allegation of corruption against Mr. Hall but that as the custodian of records he did not produce roughly 50 emails out of tens of thousands that were turned over.”

Election ballots were mailed Oct. 6 and are due back Nov. 14.

Hall’s Attorney: Allegations Interfere With Ongoing Election
Viet D. Dinh, an attorney for the Teamsters, sought intervention Nov. 3 from Judge Loretta A. Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The correspondence warned of an intent to file for a “protective order enjoining the Independent Investigations Officer (“IIO”) from interfering with the IBT’s ongoing election through a baseless charge of obstruction against the IBT’s General Secretary-Treasurer, Ken Hall.”

DiGenova’s 42-page document is “pages of bluster, indignation, and assertions of absolute authority is a simple gripe that the IBT had not produced, by our count, roughly 50 emails,” Dinh’s correspondence said.

DiGenova alleged that there have been frivolous attempts to justify withholding documents.

“For example, Hall asserted, inter alia, through his agents that the union documents he was refusing to allow the IIO to examine were not relevant to matters the IIO was investigating or were personal,” deGenova said in the document recommending charges be brought.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Nov. 3 filed a motion asking that the union be ordered to turn over the documents pursuant to the consent degree ( United States v. Teamsters, S.D.N.Y., No. 88-cv-04486, 2/17/15).

Bharara also asked the court to reaffirm “that the Final Order does not provide the Union with authority to unilaterally withhold documents responsive to notices of examination issued by the IIO.”

Timing Questioned
The leadership had been working with the IIO to “reverse the untoward charges,” but the situation may have been worsened by the charges “leaked” to the public with intentions to change election results, DInh said in his correspondence.

“But almost simultaneously, the charging documents were leaked, triggering exactly the result that the IIO’s intentional act intended: a ‘vote against Hoffa-Hall corruption’ campaign, which included urging those who had already voted to request a new ballot,” Dinh wrote.

The Hoffa slate is up against Fred Zuckerman, head of Teamsters Local 89 in Louisville, Ky. Zuckerman has touted a platform of reform of the union.

Zuckerman Nov. 3 told Bloomberg BNA that he is pleased the investigator moved forward with charges, but he took issue with the timing.

“We have been trying to get this information to our members so they can have a more informed vote,” he said. “It is very frustrating that it has taken this long and we don’t understand the delays.”
U.S. Attorney to Court: Hall Must Turn Over Evidence

Hoffa running mate Ken Hall is facing charges and expulsion from the union for obstructing investigations into corruption, embezzlement, employer gifts, and payoffs. Now, the corruption obstruction scandal is headed to court.
http://www.tdu.org/ken_hall_obstruction_case_heads_to_court

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara has filedcourt papers asking Federal Judge Loretta Preska to order the International Union to turn over 17,334 emails and documents that have been withheld from corruption investigators.

Calling the Hoffa-Hall administration's obstruction "unprecedented and dangerous," Bharara has asked the judge to reaffirm that the IBT does not have the right to suppress evidence relevant to corruption investigations by the Independent Investigations Officer (IIO).

As the official in charge of IBT records, Hall is responsible for withholding the subpoenaed emails and documents and obstructing the corruption investigation. That’s why Hall has been hit by IIO charges, and not Hoffa (at least, not yet).

October Surprise?

The Hoffa-Hall administration filed court papers of their own, accusing the Independent Investigations Officer (IIO) of launching a “nuclear missile” in a “surprise attack” that “interferes with the ongoing election.”

Speaking to the press, Hoffa-Hall spokesman Bret Caldwell denounced the charges against Hall as “baseless, without merit and politically motivated,” and accused Independent Investigations Officer Joseph diGenova of trying “to interfere with the ongoing Teamsters national election” against the Hoffa-Hall slate.

Hoffa Hired DiGenova

Caldwell gives no explanation of what diGenova’s motive would be—and for good reason: there is none. DiGenova was appointed by Hoffa himself and the two of them have worked together for nearly two decades.

DiGenova’s relationship with Hoffa goes back to 1997 when they collaborated as part of a Congressional investigation into the 1996 Teamster election. DiGenova served as special counsel to that investigation and prepped multiple Hoffa campaign operatives who testified in the hearings.

Following Hoffa’s election, Hoffa personally appointed diGenova to the Independent Review Board (IRB). All of this is laid out by diGenova in this interview with the D.C. Bar. DiGenova became the Independent Investigations Officer when the IRB was phased out and IIO was created earlier this year.

But now that diGenova is pursuing corruption investigations that implicate Hoffa and Hall themselves, they suddenly claim he is “politically motivated.” That dog won't hunt.

Hoffa Turns on Corruption Officers

This is not the first time that Hoffa has turned against a corruption officer that he appointed.

Hoffa appointed former federal prosecutor Ed Stier to direct the Project RISE anti-corruption task force.

But when Stier's inquiries into corruption and organized crime influence got too close to Hoffa's running mate John Coli, Hoffa shut down the investigation.

Stier resigned in disgust in 2004, saying when it comes to rooting out corruption, "The problem is Hoffa."

Corruption & Ken Hall Charges

The real facts behind the obstruction charges are straight-forward and well-summarized by U.S. Attorney Bharara’s brief, which states:

“The IIO is investigating the conduct of a number of high-ranking Union officials and employees, including Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the Union, William C. Smith III, Executive Assistant to the General President, Nicole Brener-Schmitz, formerly the IBT’s Political Director, and John Slatery, the IBT Benefits Department Director. Generally, these investigations concern broad practices of Union officers and employees receiving payments and gifts from employers, vendors, and others doing business with the Union. This includes the awarding of contracts for a Union fund in 2013, on which Hall, Smith, and other high ranking Union officials were Trustees, to a company represented by a facilitator, Charles Bertucio, who had close personal relationships with several high ranking Union officials; payments and the giving of things of value to high ranking Union officials, by vendors, their agents, employers and others doing business with the Union or its funds, and allegations of widespread financial wrongdoing by Brener-Schmitz that was known within the Union and tolerated by senior officials.” (Page 2 of USA Memorandum of Law)

“The IBT’s interference and hindrance of the IIO’s work for the past six months has substantially interfered with his ability to perform his duties. It has occurred when the administration was on notice that the conduct of its top officers and employees were under investigation. It has also occurred during an election year.” (Page 9 of USA Memorandum of Law)

“To allow the Union and its employees under investigation to determine what records the IIO can examine is to guarantee an ineffective, Union-controlled IIO.” (Page 10 of USA Memorandum of Law)

The stakes are high and every Teamster who cares about eliminating corruption from our union should follow this case carefully.