There is a new development, finally, in the federal investigation of Richard L. Trumka, AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer and top union ally of Al Gore, for his alleged participation in two money-laundering conspiracies that involving $200,000 and aided the 1996 reelection campaign of ex-Teamsters boss Ron Carey. According to the Washington Times, a federal grand jury in Manhattan has been empanelled and it has subpoenaed AFL-CIO records concerning the transactions in question.
While the Clinton-Gore-Reno Dep’t of Justice have refused to comment on the Trumka probe, DOJ recently blocked the Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters from going to court to seek $9 million in damages in a civil racketeering suit, saying it would undermine a criminal investigation.
Despite the federal investigation of Trumka, Gore refuses to end his relationship with the troubled union boss and allowed Trumka to be a featured speaker at the Democratic Convention. Trumka was instrumental in securing the AFL-CIO early endorsement of Gore last Oct. Trumka has used the Fifth Amendment to avoid federal investigators’ questions about the conspiracy. [Wash. Times 9/26/00] Note that the Nat’l Legal & Pol’y Ctr. recently filed a complaint with the Pa. Bar to have Trumka, an attorney, disbarred for this conduct; read NLPC’s complaint at <www.nlpc.org>.