Jackie Presser Indictment Scandal - Congressional Investigation

Congressional Investigation

The Department of Justice decision to not prosecute Presser prompted members of Congress to investigate the handling of the politically sensitive case. Some congressmen were concerned that Presser's close political ties to the Reagan administration had led to favorable treatment, while others wanted to know why so much time and so many resources had been expended when DOJ had no intention of prosecuting Presser. Additionally, many members of Congress had spent years telling voters that the Teamsters were corrupt, and now voters were demanding an answer as to why Presser was not being called to account. DOJ defended its actions by pointing to Presser's long-time role as a criminal informant, but members of Congress were unhappy that DOJ seemed willing tolerate corruption in the nation's largest labor movement. Senators William V. Roth, Jr. (R-Delaware) and Sam Nunn (D-Georgia) ordered the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) to look into the handling of the case, and Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) asked the Judiciary Committee to probe the matter. The PSI quickly asked the FBI, DOJ and DOL to turn over their files on the Presser probe.

Although some members of Congress accused the FBI of misleading Justice officials about Presser's role as a criminal informant, FBI Director William H. Webster revealed that he had informed Attorney General William French Smith about Presser's role in May 1983, and that on at least two other occasions that year DOL and DOJ investigators in Cleveland were told Presser was an FBI source.

After a year of hearings, the Subcommitee on Investigations concluded in its report that rivalries among federal law enforcement agencies and poor supervision of the FBI by DOJ superiors led to the cancellation of the prosecution. The report also said the public nature of the snafu had set back prosecutorial efforts by several years. Subcommittee members also expressed their anger at what they termed "an overall FBI attitude of obfuscation, intransigence and delay" in the Presser case.