Rep. Hoekstra told the Grand Rapids Press [07/06/98] he is “still a long way from his goal of rooting out corruption in the nation’s largest private union.” Hoekstra said, “I don’t see it wrapping up anytime soon.” He is not only concerned about 1996, but also about possible 1998 corruption: the Teamsters are “being run by the secretary-treasurer elected on Carey’s slate, Tom Sever. What is Sever allowing to happen right now? Union resources to be used for campaign purposes? It’s the same thing that happened in 1996,” said Hoekstra. But, his investigators, Joseph diGenova & Victoria Toensing announced Jul. 9 that they will be leaving at the end of Jul. [Detroit News 07/10/98]
In apparent support of Hoekstra’s concerns, the Associated Press reported on Jun. 27, that it obtained a list of Teamsters staff and the amounts they donated to the Carey-Sever campaign in 1996 that union sources say was compiled at Sever’s request. Addressed to Sever, a cover sheet to a Jan. 29, 1998 memo says, “attached is a list of all [Teamsters] employees donations over $80 to the Campaign… Also attached is a list of those who gave nothing.” The list of about 250 donors to Carey-Sever was prepared at union headquarters and on union time, according to union officials, and appears to violate rules against mixing union work and politics.
