Senate Probers Seek IRS’ Presser Files; Hearings Likely

Senate investigators have asked for Internal Revenue Service intelligence files on Teamsters Union President Jackie Presser to determine whether his alleged work as a government informant resulted in blocking his labor fraud prosecution.

The action, initiated by the permanent investigations subcommittee of the Governmental Affairs Committee, follows extensive interviews of individuals involved in the labor fraud investigation. And it signals that the panel is likely to call a hearing on the Presser case next month.

Closed Hearings

But the FBI’s unwillingness to publicly acknowledge Presser’s role as an informant may lead the subcommittee to conduct much of the inquiry in closed sessions, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

In an action that was largely unnoticed by the media, the Senate on Dec. 19 adopted a resolution authorizing the subcommittee to obtain IRS “investigatory files” on Presser, his late father, William Presser, who was a powerful Teamsters officer in Ohio, and the late Teamsters President Frank E. Fitzsimmons.

Such a resolution is required to obtain the sensitive tax material, and the full Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on Dec. 31 followed through by requesting the documents from the Treasury Department.

Questions About Probe

In asking the Senate for the necessary authority, Sen. William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.), the subcommittee chairman, said: “Serious questions have arisen concerning coordination of the Presser investigation among the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Roth cited “public reports that these agencies may have established (a) relationship with Mr. Presser and his associates that may have resulted in deferred prosecutions or other favorable treatment.”

The IRS files on the two Pressers and Fitzsimmons are being sought in connection with a 1981 Time magazine report that they regularly met with IRS agents between 1972 and 1974 and supplied the IRS with information on Teamster rivals.

Jackie Presser, according to the Time report, acknowledged that he, his father and Fitzsimmons had met with the IRS agents in early 1972, but added: “I never talked with them again. I’m certain my dad didn’t talk to them either, because he never told me that he did. I can’t say what Fitz did . . . . Look, I can’t be responsible for what’s in government reports.”

The Senate subcommittee is also seeking IRS investigative files on Harry Hall, a government informant also known as Harry Haller, who allegedly arranged a 1972 meeting between the Teamsters officers and IRS agents.

The subcommittee acted after indications that the Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to complete a more limited inquiry into the Presser affair without conducting hearings.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the judiciary panel’s ranking minority member, said last month that he was convinced politics did not play a role in the Justice Department’s decision to reject a federal strike force recommendation that Presser be indicted on charges of authorizing Teamster payments to “ghost employees.”

The possibility that politics entered the case stems from the facts that, among major labor leaders, Presser was the sole supporter of Ronald Reagan’s presidential candidacy and that, before moving to the Justice Department from the White House, Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III defended the Administration’s ties with Presser.

Briefing by FBI Chief

Biden made the comment, which is being cited by FBI agents in the field as demonstrating that the “Presser problem” will prove to be short-lived, after a five-hour briefing by FBI Director William H. Webster.

Biden’s interest in the Presser case is being pursued by G. Robert Blakey, a Notre Dame law professor and former Senate counsel who is an authority on federal criminal law. Although Biden says he has satisfied himself that politics did not lead to the decision not to prosecute Presser, Blakey still is seeking answers to questions raised by the FBI’s role in the case, Biden aides said Tuesday.