IRB Boots Top Hoffa Aides
On May 29, 2002, the Independent Review Board permanently banned Bill Hogan and Dane Passo from the Teamsters union for attempting to negotiate a corrupt sweetheart contract in the trade show industry in Las Vegas.
The deal would have slashed living standards for 1,200 Teamster members. Michael Hogan, brother of Bill Hogan, is Vice President of the Las Vegas company that would have benefited from the deal.
Both Hogan and Passo are close political allies of Teamster President James P. Hoffa.
The IRB action brings to a close their sordid Teamster careers. Hogan was removed from office once already on nepotism charges. Passo has long been suspected of organized crime associations.But the final IRB report raises as many disturbing questions as it answers, including what Hoffa knew, when he knew it, and what role he played in covering up the scandal and impeding the IRBs investigation.
Hoffa Eyed In Cover-up of Sweetheart Vegas Deal
Facts uncovered in the Hogan/Passo investigation are raising eyebrows and questions about President Hoffa's knowledge and involvement in the Las Vegas sweetheart scandal.
The investigation revealed that Hoffa was present at several key meetings where discussions of
James P. Hoffa Under Oath: Confused, Clueless, or Covering Up?
the sweetheart deal took place. Hoffa even dined with the president of the company with whom Hogan and Passo were working the corrupt scheme.
Yet Hoffa claims no knowledge of the scheme.Was Hoffa as oblivious to Hogan and Passo's activities as he claims? Or did Hoffa know about the corrupt deal and attempt to cover up his knowledge by failing to cooperate with the IRB? But the final IRB report raises as many disturbing questions as it answers, including what Hoffa knew, when he knew it, and what role he played in covering up the scandal and impeding the IRBs investigation.
Hoffa Eyed In Cover-up of Sweetheart Vegas Deal
Facts uncovered in the Hogan/Passo investigation are raising eyebrows and questions about President Hoffa's knowledge and involvement in the Las Vegas sweetheart scandal.
The investigation revealed that Hoffa was present at several key meetings where discussions of
James P. Hoffa Under Oath: Confused, Clueless, or Covering Up?
the sweetheart deal took place. Hoffa even dined with the president of the company with whom Hogan and Passo were working the corrupt scheme.
Yet Hoffa claims no knowledge of the scheme.Was Hoffa as oblivious to Hogan and Passo's activities as he claims? Or did Hoffa know about the corrupt deal and attempt to cover up his knowledge by failing to cooperate with the IRB? See No Evil
Hoffa knows Bill Hogan and the Hogan family well. Hogan was forced to withdraw as Hoffa's running mate before the 1996 Teamsters election after the IRB began investigating nepotism and corruption charges in Local 714 in Chicago, where Hogan was president.
In fact, Hoffa told the IRB that because of previous charges of corruption against Hogan, he would not assign him to positions in the convention industry or in Las Vegas and refused to name Hogan to his old position as director of the IBT Trade Show Division.
Yet, over the course of late 1999 and early 2000, several events occurred that make it incredible to believe that Hoffa did not know of Hogan's role in negotiating a deal in the Las Vegas convention industry:
In 1999, at a union meeting, Hogan, with Hoffa standing next to him, asked Las Vegas Local 631 leader Tim Murphy to meet with some friends of his.
In March 2000, Hoffa sent VP Jim Santangelo and International Representatives to deliver a message to Murphy about the way he was running the local. Hogan showed up at this meeting, despite having no official duties in Las Vegas.
In July 2000, Hogan arranged a meeting between Hoffa and the owner of the Las Vegas company with whom he was negotiating the sweetheart contract. Hoffa even admits that the Las Vegas contract was discussed at this meeting.
Incredibly, despite all of the evidence to the contrary, Hoffa maintains that he knew nothing of Hogan's involvement in the convention industry in Las Vegas. Hoffa even denies knowing Michael Hogan, Vice President of the Las Vegas company, saying, "I have met a lot of Hogans, its a big family."
The Case of the Missing Sweetheart Contract
The appearance of a cover-up is bolstered by the failure of the IBT to provide the IRB with a copy of the sweetheart contract that the union had in its possession.
It seems that virtually everyone in the top echelon of the Hoffa administration knew about this contract, including Hoffa's Executive Assistant Carlow Scalf, and IBT attorneys who reviewed the proposed agreement.
Nevertheless, during the course of the IRB's investigation, the IBT and Passo both denied the existence of any written version of the sweetheart contract. As a result, the IRB did not vigorously question the key players in the scandal, including Hoffa and Executive Assistant Scalf, about their knowledge of the contract a key piece of evidence that could prove that Hoffa was aware of the Las Vegas scheme at a time when he could have intervened to stop it.
Miraculously, after Hoffa and Scalf had already testified, the IBT and Passo both claim to have found the agreement and both parties turned over copies of the sweetheart deal to the IRB on the very same day. Unfortunately, the IRB never forced Hoffa and Scalf to give new statements under oath in light of this new-found evidence.
Time for Hoffa to Come Clean
To protect the integrity of his office, Hoffa has to remove the lingering questions about his knowledge of the Las Vegas scandal and his role in the attempts to impede the IRB's investigation. The best way to do this would be for our International Union leadership to form a truly independent investigative panel. This panel should take new depositions from Hoffa and Scalf in light of the discovery that the IBT had a copy of the sweetheart contract all along.
If the Hoffa administration shows itself incapable of policing its own house, then it will fall to the IRB alone to investigate what Hoffa knew about the involvement of Hogan and Passo in the Las Vegas sweetheart deal and when he knew it.
The IRB should also bring charges against Hoffa and Scalf for obstructing the IRB investigation by withholding evidence and failing to provide truthful and credible responses to the investigators inquiries.
