April 27,1999
VIA FACSIMILE
J. Bruce Maffeo, Esq. Bradley T. Raymond, Esq.
Seiff & Kretz Finkel, Whitefield, Selik, Raymond,
645 Madison Avenue Ferrara & Feldman
New York, New York 10022 32300 Northwestern Highway, Suite 200
Farmington Hills, Michigan XXX-XX-XXXX
Patrick J. Szymanski, Esq. Paul Alan Levy, Esq.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Public Citizen Litigation Group
25 Louisiana Ave., N.W. 1600 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001 Washington, D.C. XXX-XX-XXXX
Re: PR-35-EOH (Supplemental Decision)
Gentlemen:
In February, 1999, the Election Officer received allegations that Richard Leebove had performed work for either the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“IBT”) or the Hoffa Transition Team, in violation of an Election Officer remedial order prohibiting such work. On February 18, 1999, the Election Officer opened an investigation of the matter. The Election Officer has interviewed witnesses under oath, and reviewed telephone records of the IBT and other documents pertinent to the allegation. From the evidence gathered in this investigation, the Election Officer cannot substantiate any violation of the remedial order. The Election Officer’s February 18, 1999 directive barring the IBT International Union “from contracting with Mr. Leebove, Mr. Turner or RL Communications or paying any of them or incurring a debt to them for any kind of services, goods or work, or using them or communicating with them in any way” is dissolved. The Election Officer’s April 27, 1998 Order, which barred all candidates, slates, and independent committees from contracting for, or using services of, Mr. Leebove, Mr. Turner or RL Communications will continue for activities relating to the Southern Region Rerun Election and the Teamsters Canada Vice-President election until the final certification of results from those elections.
THE REMEDIAL ORDER
In April, 1998, the Election Officer issued a ruling on the Carey Slate Protest. The Election Officer found that the Hoffa Campaign had received an improper contribution from an employer in the form of $167,000.00 worth of public relations services from Richard Leebove and his company RL Communications. As a remedy, the Election Officer directed that:
All candidates, slates, and independent committees are hereby barred from contracting with [Richard] Leebove, [Phillip] Turner or RL [Communications], or paying any of them or incurring a debt to them for any kind of services, goods, or work of any kind from the date of this decision through the date of the final certification of the 1996 IBT International officer election. During that time period, Mr. Leebove, Mr. Turner, and RL may not perform any work for or against any candidate nor may they bill or receive monies for such work performed by them or by any other entity.
Carey Slate Protest, PR-35-EOH (MGC) at 88 (April 27, 1998) (note omitted), aff’d, 98-Elec. App.-348 (KC) (May 15, 1998), aff’d, as modified, 9 F. Supp. 2d 354 (S.D.N.Y.), aff’d, 159 F.3d 757 (2d Cir. 1998).
In December, 1998, the Election Officer received information that Mr. Leebove had participated in a visit or visits to IBT headquarters with the Hoffa Transition Team after the balloting. This incident was reviewed with counsel for the Hoffa Slate and the question was raised whether the Carey Slate Protest remedial order’s prohibition on work for candidates and slates “through the date of the final certification” barred Mr. Leebove from working on Mr. Hoffa’s transition to office. On December 23, 1998, the Election Officer issued a letter clarifying the remedial order. Letter from Election Officer Michael G. Cherkasky to Patrick J. Szymanski, Esq. (December 23, 1998). The Election Officer ruled that the April 27, 1998 order should be read to bar Mr. Leebove from doing any work for the Hoffa Transition Team through the date of final certification of the Election results.
After issuing the December 23, 1998 letter, the Election Officer received allegations from multiple trustworthy sources, (conveyed confidentially), that Mr. Leebove was doing work either for the IBT or for the Hoffa Transition Team in violation of the Election Officer’s remedial order as clarified. The allegations received identified four people as either having knowledge of the alleged improper contacts with Mr. Leebove, or as having engaged in such improper activity themselves. Those individuals were: Mark Mathis; Tom Pazzi; Chip Roth; and Carlow Scalf. The Election Officer proceeded to investigate this matter.
THE INVESTIGATION
The Election Officer requested that the IBT produce telephone records of outgoing calls made from particular departments or telephones within IBT headquarters. The IBT’s computerized recordkeeping system allowed the Election Officer to obtain reports of telephone calls made from headquarters to identified calling destinations. As will be explained below, the records reflected calls to Mr. Leebove. Records also were produced showing telephone calls from IBT headquarters to George Geller, an attorney frequently associated with Mr. Leebove, and the investigation followed up on the nature of those contacts.
The Election Officer took sworn testimony of witnesses whose IBT headquarters telephone records showed contacts with Mr. Leebove or Mr. Geller in the time period from December 1, 1998 through March, 1999, and from other witnesses who may have had knowledge of any contacts between Mr. Leebove and persons at IBT headquarters. The individuals examined under oath were: Ron Carver; James P. Hoffa.; Chip Roth; Mark Mathis; Tom Pazzi; and Carlow Scalf. In addition, Mr. Leebove provided written, sworn statements concerning the allegations. The Election Officer also requested that each witness produce documents in their possession reflecting any contacts with Mr. Leebove and George Geller that occurred between December 1, 1998 and the date of their testimony.
FINDINGS OF THE INVESTIGATION
As previously found in the Carey Slate Protest, Mr. Leebove provides public information services for IBT local unions in Michigan. PR-35-EOH at 65-66. IBT Local Union 337 of Detroit, Michigan is one client for which Mr. Leebove prepares and publishes a Local Union newsletter. Id. The original remedial order issued in April, 1998 did not affect Mr. Leebove’s work for IBT local unions. Similarly, the December 23, 1998 clarification and the February 18, 1999 directives did not bar Mr. Leebove from performing his usual work and services for IBT local unions. The investigation found that contacts did occur in January and February 1999 between Mr. Leebove and persons at IBT headquarters, but the contacts concerned matters pertinent to his work for IBT local unions. No facts were found that showed contacts or conduct in violation of the Election Officer’s remedial order as clarified on December 23, 1998.
Several witnesses testified under oath about their contacts with Mr. Leebove and produced documents to support their testimony._ This testimony may be summarized briefly.
Ron Carver
Mr. Carver is an IBT employee in the corporate campaigns department. He has worked at the IBT for approximately six years. The Election Officer questioned Mr. Carver under oath because outgoing call records of his IBT telephone extension reflected a number of calls to George Geller in January and February of 1999.
Mr. Carver testified that he was not actively involved with any candidate or slate in the 1996 IBT International election. He had donated money to the Ron Carey slate in the initial election, but after that he did not get involved in supporting, or working for any slate or candidate.
Mr. Carver testified that he first met George Geller on December 14, 1998. Mr. Geller arrived with Mr. Leebove, unannounced, at Mr. Carver’s office. Mr. Geller spoke with Mr. Carver about a contract problem with an employer of IBT Local Union 337 and Local Union 406 members in Michigan. Mr. Geller requested Mr. Carver’s assistance in mounting a campaign to protect jobs for IBT members at this employer. Mr. Leebove said nothing during the meeting and Mr. Carver had no other contact with him.
Mr. Carver’s regular job at the IBT involves strategizing about, and conducting, information campaigns of the type that Mr. Geller requested. Mr. Carver’s job frequently involves giving local unions exactly the type of assistance sought in this instance by Mr. Geller for Local Union 337. After the December 14, 1998 meeting, Mr. Carver created a corporate information campaign to support the Local 337 and 406 members in their dispute with the employer. Work on this information campaign continued through the first months of 1999. Mr. Carver testified that the telephone calls between Mr. Carver and Mr. Geller reflected on the IBT’s records all related to this situation in Michigan that had nothing to do with either Mr. Leebove or the transition team. Mr. Carver testified that he neither knows of, nor has heard of, anyone at the IBT having contact with Mr. Leebove in violation of the Election Officer’s Order.
The evidence concerning Mr. Carver supports a finding that any contact he had with Mr. Leebove or Mr. Geller was not a contact with Mr. Leebove in violation of the Election Officer’s order.
Mark Mathis
Mr. Mathis is an IBT employee in the Legislative Affairs department. He has worked at IBT headquarters for more than five years. Mr. Mathis saw Mr. Leebove at IBT headquarters on December 8, 1998, and possibly one other time that month. On both occasions, the contacts were brief.
In January, 1999, Mr. Mathis spoke with Mr. Leebove about an article the latter was writing for the Local 337 newsletter about the authorization of cross-border trucking under the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”). Mr. Mathis discussed the IBT’s position on this issue with Mr. Leebove and provided him by fax with a memorandum he had written on the subject for IBT president-elect James P. Hoffa. Mr. Mathis provided the Election Officer with a copy of the documents he said that he had telecopied to Mr. Leebove. The IBT’s telephone records show a call to Mr. Leebove’s facsimile line corresponding to the date on the documents Mr. Mathis produced as the faxed documents. Mr. Mathis also provided a copy of the Local Union 337 newsletter Team 337, dated February 1999, with a front-page article on NAFTA that discusses cross-border trucking.
Mr. Mathis testified that his sole contact with Mr. Leebove in January concerned this NAFTA issue. Mr. Mathis further testified that he has not heard from any source of any improper contacts between Mr. Leebove and any member of the Hoffa Transition Team, or anyone else at IBT headquarters.
In February, 1999, Mr. Hoffa, members of his transition team, and certain IBT staff went to the AFL-CIO annual board meeting in Florida. Mr. Mathis was part of the IBT delegation. Mr. Leebove was also in Florida at the time of the AFL-CIO meeting and engaged in some social activities with people from the IBT delegation. Mr. Mathis had casual encounters with Mr. Leebove in the lobby of the Fountainbleau Hotel during the time of the meeting. He denied having any contact or discussion with Mr. Leebove pertaining to IBT business.
Mr. Mathis’s testimony provides no support for the allegation of improper contact between Mr. Leebove and anyone covered by the Election Officer’s orders.
Tom Pazzi
Mr. Pazzi was the campaign manager for Mr. Hoffa. He testified that he had no improper contacts with Mr. Leebove from December, 1998 through March, 1999, and that Mr. Leebove had not worked for the Hoffa Slate since the April 27, 1998 order. He was aware that, in December 1998, Mr. Hoffa assigned Mr. Leebove to review the communications department as part of the transition. Mr. Pazzi testified that he has no knowledge of any improper contacts between Mr. Leebove and anyone at IBT headquarters after the December 23, 1998 letter. Mr. Pazzi further testified that he has not heard from any source of any improper contact between Mr. Leebove and any member of the transition team, or anyone else at IBT headquarters.
Mr. Pazzi attended the AFL-CIO meeting in Florida in February, 1999. Similar to the others in attendance with the IBT delegation, any contact he had with Mr. Leebove was purely social, and not related to IBT business.
Mr. Pazzi’s testimony did not provide any support for the allegations of improper contact between Mr. Leebove and anyone covered by the Election Officer’s orders.
Chip Roth
In 1998, Mr. Roth performed public information services for IBT Local Union 391 and also worked on the campaign of Hoffa Slate member Jack Cipriani. Mr. Roth has known Mr. Leebove for many years. They are social friends and share work interests as they perform similar services for IBT local unions.
Mr. Roth testified that he did not know of any work Mr. Leebove had performed for any campaign or slate after April 27, 1998._ After the rerun election balloting, Mr. Roth and Mr. Leebove were designated by Mr. Hoffa to review the operations of the IBT communications department as part of the transition. Mr. Roth and Mr. Leebove visited with members of the communications department on December 14 and 15, 1998 and discussed their findings. Thereafter, Mr. Leebove returned to Michigan. Mr. Roth did not see Mr. Leebove at IBT headquarters at any time after December 15, 1998. Mr. Roth was aware of the Election Officer’s December 23, 1998 letter prohibiting contact between Mr. Leebove and the IBT during transition, and states that he complied with it. Mr. Roth further testified that he has not heard from any sources of any improper contact between Mr. Leebove and any member of the transition team, or anyone else at IBT headquarters.
Mr. Roth admits that he had some telephone contacts with Mr. Leebove from December 23, 1998 through March, 1999. He testified, however, that those contacts involved social matters, or related to a brief observation on the need to comply with the Election Officer’s December 23, 1998 clarification, or related to Mr. Leebove’s work on public information issues for IBT local unions.
Mr. Roth attended the February, 1999 AFL-CIO convention in Miami as a member of the Hoffa Transition Team. He admits that he saw Mr. Leebove while in Florida and states that all contacts were either casual encounters in the Fountainbleau Hotel lobby or were purely social events, such as group dinners. Mr. Roth testified that he did not discuss IBT business with Mr. Leebove at any time during that week.
Mr. Roth’s testimony does not provide any support for the allegation of improper contact between Mr. Leebove and anyone covered by the Election Officer’s orders.
Carlow Scalf
Mr. Scalf is a Michigan Teamster who had worked in the past for IBT Local Union 337 and Joint Counsel 43. He retired in the summer of 1998 and worked actively for the Hoffa Slate Campaign. In December, 1998, Mr. Scalf became part of Mr. Hoffa’s Transition Team.
On December 14, 1998, Mr. Scalf flew from Michigan to Washington to work on the transition. Four people took that trip together: Mr. Scalf; Mr. Geller; Mr. Leebove and Mr. Hoffa. Mr. Scalf testified that he did not know how Mr. Leebove got included in that trip or what his role was to be on the transition. He did see Mr. Leebove in the IBT communications department on December 14 or 15, 1998. In December and January, Mr. Scalf had several telephone contacts with Mr. Leebove. He testified that, as is his practice, he kept no memoranda or other writings reflecting these conversations. The IBT telephone records constitute the only records of contact between Mr. Scalf and Mr. Leebove. Mr. Scalf testified under oath that he did not recall the specific content of any of these conversations. He recalled generally that some conversations related to an ongoing Independent Review Board (“IRB”) matter not involving the International Union. Mr. Scalf did swear that none of the conversations concerned the transition or official IBT business. Mr. Scalf further testified that he has not heard of any improper contacts between Mr. Leebove and any member of the transition team, or anyone else at IBT headquarters.
Mr. Scalf was a member of the IBT delegation that attended the AFL-CIO convention in Florida. He testified that his contacts with Mr. Leebove in Florida were purely social.
Mr. Scalf’s testimony does not provide any support for the allegation of improper contact between Mr. Leebove and anyone covered by the Election Officer’s order.
James P. Hoffa
Mr. Hoffa was questioned under oath about his contacts with Mr. Leebove during 1998 and 1999. Mr. Hoffa testified that since the Election Officer’s Order of April 27, 1998, Mr. Leebove performed no work whatsoever for his campaign or, so far as he knew, for any member of his slate. Mr. Hoffa and Mr. Leebove are long-term social friends, and Mr. Hoffa testified that in 1998 he spoke with Mr. Leebove weekly, or slightly less frequently, about personal matters.
On December 8, 1999, Mr. Hoffa visited the IBT headquarters with a small group that included Mr. Leebove. Mr. Leebove had come to Washington, D.C. at the time of the ballot count and was present for Hoffa Slate celebrations. He did not do any campaign or count-related work, nor did he visit the count site. Mr. Hoffa testified that he did not ask Mr. Leebove to come on the IBT headquarters visit. Mr. Hoffa believes that, when the word circulated in the Hoffa camp about the headquarters tour, Mr. Leebove simply invited himself along. Mr. Hoffa categorized this visit as the start of his transition to authority, and believed it was not campaign activity. Thus, in Mr. Hoffa’s view, the April 27, 1998 order did not prohibit Mr. Leebove’s participation in the visit.
Mr. Hoffa testified that, during the week of December 7, 1998, he asked Mr. Leebove and Mr. Roth to review the state of the IBT communications department. Mr. Hoffa thought that this was proper notwithstanding the April 27, 1998 order, because this review concerned the transition to governance, and not campaigning. Mr. Hoffa testified that after the Election Officer’s December 23, 1998 letter, Mr. Leebove did no further work on the transition.
Mr. Hoffa spoke to Mr. Leebove in January about cross-border trucking under NAFTA and apparently directed him to Mr. Mathis to get information on that subject. Mr. Hoffa testified that discussion related to matters he understood Mr. Leebove was writing about for the Local Union 337 newsletter.
Mr. Hoffa saw Mr. Leebove in social contexts at the AFL-CIO convention in Florida and played golf with him, but did not discuss any IBT business with him. Mr. Hoffa testified that he has not had any contact with Mr. Leebove since February 19, 1999.
Mr. Hoffa’s testimony does not provide any support for the allegation of improper contact between Mr. Leebove and anyone covered by the Election Officer’s order.
Richard Leebove
The Election Officer requested that Mr. Leebove provide a sworn affidavit responding to the allegation that he had violated the Election Officer’s remedial order, and detailing all contacts he had with persons at IBT headquarters during December 1998 and the first quarter of 1999. Mr. Leebove supplied one affidavit, and a supplemental affidavit in answer to further questions. He states that he did not engage in any activities barred by the Election Officer. He further stated that any contacts that he had with people at IBT headquarters after December 23, 1998 about union business related solely to his work for IBT local unions. Regarding the December 8, 1998 headquarters tour with Mr. Hoffa and others, Mr. Leebove states that he has no specific recollection of how he came to be included in the group.
Mr. Hoffa did ask Mr. Leebove to review the IBT communications department with Mr. Roth on December 14 and 15, 1998. Mr. Leebove flew from Detroit to Washington, D.C. for this visit. IBT Local Union 337 paid Mr. Leebove’s fare for this trip, and Mr. Leebove has stated that he intends to reimburse the union for the ticket cost. Mr. Leebove states that the IBT paid for his hotel accommodations on December 14. Regarding the work of reviewing the communications department for the Hoffa Transition Team, Mr. Leebove believed that it was permitted under the April 27, 1998 order because it was not campaign related.
Mr. Leebove states that he went to the AFL-CIO meeting in Florida to develop business opportunities with AFL-CIO unions. He states that Steve Yokich, the United Auto Workers President, invited him to the charity golf tournament where he played with Mr. Hoffa. He stated that any contacts he had with IBT delegation members during the time of the AFL-CIO meeting were purely social.
ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION
Mr. Leebove visited IBT headquarters on December 8, and on December 14 and 15, as part of Mr. Hoffa’s transition activities. Once the balloting ended, and Mr. Hoffa became president-elect, work began on planning the transition to leadership of the new officers. The transition period arises under Election Officer supervision because the officers-elect must wait for final certification before they can be sworn into office. Transition work is not campaign activity and, as was established in connection with the 1991 International officer election, the IBT may properly pay for the reasonable costs of transition staff. While campaign activity (e.g., fundraising) may continue during transition, the two types of activity are distinct and different.
The Election Officer’s April 27, 1998 order barred “candidates, slates and independent committees” from using Mr. Leebove’s services through the date of the final certification of the 1996 IBT International officer election.” Carey Slate Protest, PR-35-EOH at 88. The order specified Mr. Leebove could not “perform any work for or against any candidate . . ..” Id. (emphasis added). From this language, a reasonable reader could conclude that the Election Officer’s remedy applied to the employment of Mr. Leebove in connection with campaign activity and that the restriction would not extend to work for candidates-elect in transition to governance. Under the circumstances, the limited activities of Mr. Leebove at IBT headquarters on December 8, 14 and 15 are understandable and do not support the imposition of any remedy separate from the clarification that resulted from that very activity. The Election Officer issued the December 23, 1998 letter to make clear that the Election Officer intended for the original remedy to extend to all work by Mr. Leebove, including work for International candidates-elect, through the date of certification.
As the summary of the investigation shows, the Election Officer could not substantiate the allegation that Mr. Leebove performed work either for the IBT or the Hoffa Transition Team in violation of the Election Officer’s remedial order at any time after December 23, 1998. Witnesses were questioned on whether they had any information, including rumor, about any contacts between Mr. Leebove and anyone at IBT headquarters in violation of the order. None had any such information.
The Election Officer returned to a confidential source whose allegations initiated this investigation and asked if there was any further information to supply. The source had nothing beyond the original statements. Informed of the facts developed in the investigation, the source said it knew of nothing inconsistent with those facts. As for the initial allegations, it was stated that what was first heard and observed, and what became the basis for the charge, was consistent with the innocent explanations the witnesses provided to the Election Officer.
The investigation is closed and the Election Officer’s February 18, 1999 directive is dissolved. The Election Officer’s April 27, 1998 Order will continue in effect for all candidates, slates, and independent committees involved in the Southern Region Rerun election through the final certification of results in that election. The April 27, 1998 order also remains in effect for Canadian candidates until that election is finally certified.
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within one (1) day of receipt of this letter. The parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Officer in any such appeal. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing and shall be served on:
Kenneth Conboy, Esq.
Latham & Watkins
885 Third Avenue, Suite 1000
New York, NY 10022
Fax (212) 751-4864
Copies of the request for hearing must be served on the parties listed above as well as upon the Election Officer, 444 N. Capitol Street NW, Suite 445, Washington, D.C. 20001, facsimile (202) 624-3525. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for a hearing.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Cherkasky
Election Officer
cc: Kenneth Conboy, Election Appeals Master
_ References to Mr. Leebove in the summary of testimony include Mr. Turner and RL Communications
_ Sources have informed the Election Office that Mr. Leebove had communications with the staff of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce. Mr. Roth corroborated that information. The Election Officer has determined that this type of communication with Congress concerning an ongoing Congressional investigation is not within the purview of the Election Rules.
J. Bruce Maffeo, Esq.
April 27, 1999
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