Another contentious hearing was held by Sen. John McClellan (D -Ark.) in 1957 investigating corruption in labor unions. A young Robert Kennedy was chief counsel of this sub-committee and did most of the grilling. His principal target was Jimmy Hoffa, president of the Teamsters Union and it soon became a vendetta. Early in his organizing career Hoffa contacted members of the "mob" to please do not interfere with his efforts. This contact became his undoing later when Las Vegas individuals began getting loans from the Teamsters Pension Fund. When JFK was elected in 1960 he named brother Bobby as Attorney General in the Justice Department and Hoffa knew things would be heating up - and Kennedy went after him with a vengeance getting several indictments in 1962/1963 and finally Hoffa was imprisoned in 1967 in Lewisburg, Pa. After JFK's shocking death in 1963, President Nixon finally commuted his sentence and he resumed his union activity. But in 1975 Hoffa went to a luncheon meeting and never returned. His car was found unlocked and empty. Widespread searches proved futile. Over the years many rumors persisted - one was that he was buried under Giants Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. But a mobster "talking" later said he knew the answer. His story was that Jimmy Hoffa was "whacked" in Chicago and his body driven to the New York area in a Cadillac limo and Jimmy in the limo delivered to an auto wrecking site where the crushing machinery finished the job. A bit gruesome but don't let it spoil your lunch.
tjs
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