Word: pressers
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...months, 23 members of a federal grand jury in Cleveland have investigated the local dealings of Jackie Presser, 58, the blunt-spoken, 300-lb. president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the nation's largest labor union. More than half a year has passed since the Justice Department's strike force in Cleveland recommended to its superiors in Washington that Presser be indicted for fraud and conspiracy. But the Justice Department seemed to be dragging its heels in asking for an indictment. Last week the jurors decided to take matters into their own hands. In an extraordinary move, they asked...
There is a suspicion that some Administration officials do not wish to see Presser indicted. He has cultivated ties with Administration figures, notably Attorney General Edwin Meese. Presser has also served as a much valued informer for the FBI on Teamsters-related matters. One Justice official said the department's approval of an indictment against Presser seemed certain until last month. "Up to then, the light was green," he said. "But then somebody threw a switch." TERRORISM Offering a Reward for Killers...
...Jackie Presser once seemed in imminent danger of going the same route as three of the five previous presidents of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters: being indicted for a federal crime. But after a three-year investigation of padded-payroll practices in Cleveland's Teamsters Local 507, where Presser, 58, serves as secretary-treasurer, the Justice Department said last week that it had overruled a recommendation by a federal organized-crime strike force in that city and would not prosecute the union boss. Although Presser 's was the only major labor organization to back Ronald Reagan for President...
According to Justice officials, the case against Presser in Cleveland lacked "prosecutorial merit," meaning there was insufficient evidence to win a conviction. They also cited "outstanding law-enforcement considerations," a reference to Presser's role as a secret FBI informant providing tips on Teamsters-related crimes for at least eight years...
...Senate committees have announced that they plan to investigate the Justice Department's handling of the case. Skeptical of the department's explanations, the Senators want to find out whether the bulky (300 Ibs.) Teamsters boss was given favorable treatment because of his political ties to the Administration. Presser was appointed a labor adviser to the Reagan transition team in 1980 by Edwin Meese, now the Attorney General. He was a frequent guest at the White House...