Washington Post on Frank Pape

July 14, 2005

Edward McDonald has issued the public version of his report concerning allegations contained in Edwin Stier�s April 2004 report.

When the Stier report was received by the IBT, it was immediately sent to the Independent Review Board (IRB), the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney�s Office for the Southern District of New York. Of the allegations made in Stier�s report, only one charge has been issued to date. The IRB recommended a charge against Joseph Bernstein, the principal officer of Local 781, for bringing reproach upon the Union by knowing and purposeful contact with William T. Hogan, Jr., who had previously been permanently barred from the Union. The Union acted to permanently bar Bernstein from any Union office or other position, and this decision is currently being reviewed by the Independent Review Board.

Edward A. McDonald, the former head of the Justice Department�s Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York, was hired as an independent investigator to review Stier�s report and investigate the allegations made in the report. The General Executive Board appointed an independent committee consisting of Vice Presidents Bouvier, Cipriani and Mack to supervise Mr. McDonald�s work. Upon learning that Mr. McDonald had been engaged to review his report, Stier and his firm, Stier Anderson, resigned in a letter that attacked the credibility of the Union and its commitment to running a clean Union and dealing with allegations of organized crime influence.

Mr. McDonald interviewed all relevant witnesses, reviewed countless documents, records and reports concerning the subjects of the April 2004 Stier report. Despite the lack of cooperation from Stier Anderson, Mr. McDonald was able to interview all six of the so-called �confidential� sources cited in the Stier report and the four Stier Anderson investigators who had worked on the Chicago matters. The full McDonald report previously has been submitted to the IRB, the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney. The original report has been modified to omit the identities of individuals who provided confidential information and other matters that are either privileged or would compromise ongoing investigations.

Mr. McDonald concludes: �[T]here was no factual basis for concluding that the leadership had abandoned its commitment to reform or that Teamsters had improperly sabotaged the Stier Anderson investigations either at the direction of the Outfit [the Chicago organized crime family] or for some other reason.�

We commend Mr. McDonald for the thoroughness of his work and express our appreciation to the Union officers and members who cooperated with the investigation.

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