Finally, after almost 12 months of virtual inactivity, U.S. Atty. Mary Jo White’s criminal probe into the Ron Carey – Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters money-laundering scandal will begin inching forward next month. The news comes from a N.Y. Post report that Clinton scandal figure Terry McAuliffe — who put down $1.35 million to let the Clintons buy their dream house in Chappaqua, N.Y. — could be a witness.

McAuliffe is an unnamed player in the indictment of ousted IBT political director William W. Hamilton, who is set to go on trial Oct. 12 in Manhattan. Hamilton was charged in 1998 with conspiracy, embezzlement of union funds, mail fraud, wire fraud, making false statements to an election officer and perjury before a grand jury. Prosecutors say Hamilton illegally schemed with McAuliffe to swap union money for Democratic cash. McAuliffe hasn’t been charged. His attorney, Richard Ben-Veniste, confirmed that McAuliffe is a possible witness. [N.Y. Post. 9/6/99]

Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R.-Mich.), who has lead the Hill investigation of the Carey-IBT scandal, said Sep. 9: “The entire [IBT] investigation has fallen into a black hole. Nothing has happen. We had meetings with [DOJ] about the [IBT] probe and the involvement of Richard Trumka, the treasurer of the AFL-CIO, Terry McAuliffe and other players. The compelling argument by both Democrats on the committee and [DOJ] was you can’t go there because it would jeopardize an ongoing investigation. What we found now is that none of these probes were aggressive in any area whether it be [IBT], campaign fundraising scandals, Waco or China… With the Reno [DOJ] we [should] behave differently in the future… When the good guys are the bad guys it makes it tough to find the truth.” [Wall St. J. 9/10/99]