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Did the Teamsters Support Democrats Last Year? Duh!

Ron Carey - Will he survive?
Monday, August 25th 1997: Roy Romer, hesitant Chairman of the Democratic National Committee looked flustered on this weekend's policy television circus stammering that he had no knowledge of a possible deal between DNC officials and the Teamsters. "I wasn't there," he said.

The alleged "deal" surrounds Finance Director Richard Sullivan and some notes he took indicating that Democratic contributors were directed to make contributions to the Carey campaign in exchange for contributions the Teamsters made to the Clinton campaign.

So? Read the not so fine print - "contributors were directed to make contributions..."

Now the Justice Department is investigating whether officials of the Democratic National Committee improperly "directed" contributions to the reelection campaign of Teamsters President Ron Carey, in return for union contributions to President Clinton's election campaign.

The Teamsters, who may have given nearly $5 million to the DNC in the past few years, were among the biggest givers to the Democratic Party last year, when Carey was in an tight battle against junior JImmy Hoffa for the Teamsters presidency.

The Washington Post, always on guard for a scandal, got hold of some papers show that DNC officials discussed raising lots of money for Carey, whose reelection was overturned by a federal official last week, assuring an almost instant-replay of the Carey-Hoffa race. The notes were former DNC fundraising guru Richard Sullivan's. Sullivan already appeared at Thompson Committee hearings earlier this year.

Of course this is old news to Janet Reno who "ain't dumb." Her Justice Department had already been investigating the Teamsters and their ties to the DNC. As a matter of fact, a New York Grand Jury already indicted two Teamster fundraisers, Mike Ansara and Marty Davis who simultaneously worked for the DNC. The Grand Jury says they may have diverted money to Carey's election effort.

The plot thickens because Ansara has been "cooperating" with federal prosecutors. However, his cooperation may straightforward or "tricky" - since it's his head on the line. Wouldn't it be convenient for him to say he was ordered to move funds by the DNC?

The President in Cape Cod
Under federal law, it is illegal for an organization -- in this case allegedly the DNC -- outside a union to lend or give money to any officer or employee of a labor organization "with intent to influence him in respect to any of his actions or duties as a representative of employees."

But Democrat givers are not "organizations," and it's doubtful that individuals donors that may have been asked to support Carey had the intent to influence Carey's actions or duties as an employee representative. Allowing that someone at the Democratic National Committee called some heavy hitters asking them to support Carey financially -- it remains that the DNC, itself, did not, as far as we now know, divert or give money to Carey itself.

Maybe Attorney General Reno should look for donations from UPS to Mr. Carey. - Fat chance.

A lot of defense lawyers are making a lot of money on this one.

Sullivan has already been grilled for two hours by federal prosecutors. Sullivan's lawyer -- Robert Bauer -- told the Washington Post that "no action was taken as a result of the fund-raising discussions and that he knew of no one from the DNC who directed campaign contributions to the Carey campaign last year."

Sullivan's notes are full of "Carey's" with dollar signs attached. "50,000 Carey, $1000,000 Gail Zappa....Lunch with Carey = 200 people at Mayflower 13th = American citizen = can't employ anybody = checks Teamsters for a Corruption free Union = individual.... $1 million Teamsters Doug Sosnik"

Sosnik was the White House political director at the time. The Teamsters had pledged $1 million to the Democrat state parties last year.

Other links between the Teamsters, the DNC and the White House are obvious:

Colleen Dougher - a former DNC fundraiser who was then Carey's scheduler noted "I raised money for Carey $150,000" but denies her effort had any ties to the DNC.

Jerry Nash - Carey's campaign manager - worked half days for Clinton-Gore, Carey says Nash never told him about this.

Marty Davis - partner of Hal Malchow - whose direct mail firm did nearly $20 million in business with the DNC last year and now indicted. Malchow is not accused.

According to the Washington Post, Mr. Hamilton wrote another memo in 1996 where he said "We're not ready to give the DNC $10,000," Hamilton wrote. "That will come, if we do it, on the basis of negotiations with the DNC over the role of the Teamsters in the fall election and the willingness of the party to be more supportive of labor than in the past."

Janet Reno
Despite the Post -- whose own battles with organized labor aren't exactly a secret -- we haven't learned a heck of a lot in substance. Thus far we see that some people from the DNC probably talked to some people at the Teamsters. Both sides tried to get help for Carey. Teamsters contributed money to the DNC. But, they'd been doing that ever since they bailed on the GOP in 1991. Whether rock-politician Gail Zappa gave Ron Carey $50,000 or whether people that worked for the DNC and the White House also worked for the Teamsters is irrelevant.

The trouble we see now is rooted in Republican pay-back to Carey and the Teamsters who abandoned them in 1991 and began to funnel money -- once earmarked for the GOP -- to the Democrats. Everyone knows the Republicans can get bitchy.

Plain and simple.

© 1998, 1997, American Politics Journal Publications Inc.