Mr. KENNEDY. From our investigation, does it appear that Mr. Abe Gordon is still in control of this company? Mr. MARTIN. That would seem to be a logical conclusion. TESTIMONY OF FRANCES BLAUSTEIN, ACCOMPANIED BY COUNSEL, JACQUES M. SCHIFFER Resumed Mr. KENNEDY. Can you tell us anything about that? Miss BLAUSTEIN. I respectfully decline to answer because it may tend to incriminate me. Mr. KENNEDY. What was the reason that Mr. Gordon allowed you to run the company for him? Miss BLAUSTEIN. I respectfully decline to answer because it may tend to incriminate me. Mr. KENNEDY. That is all, Mr. Chairman. Senator CURTIS. Did you get any money out of this welfare fund? Miss BLAUSTEIN. I respectfully decline to answer because it may tend to incriminate me. Mr. KENNEDY. I might say that the records don't show anywhere, that we have received, that Miss Blaustein ever paid for this company, ever put up any money to gain control of this company. Of course, she refuses to give any information as to how she obtained control, so it would appear from the records and from our investigation that company is still controlled by Mr. Gordon, and it was this reason that, as I say, Mr. Lacey and Mr. Hickey opposed the votes of Mr. Gordon in the election of 1956 in the joint council. The CHAIRMAN. Is there anything further? Do you want to correct any statement that has been made here? Miss BLAUSTEIN. I respectfully decline to answer because it may tend to incriminate me. The CHAIRMAN. You can say no. That wouldn't incriminate you. Miss BLAUSTEIN. No. The CHAIRMAN. You are excused. Mr. KENNEDY. We have a different matter to go into now, Mr. Chairman, and that is dealing with Mr. Raymond Cohen. As you remember, we subpenaed Mr. Cohen to appear before the committee. You might want to call him. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Raymond Cohen, come forward. Be sworn, please. You do solemnly swear the evidence you shall give before this Senate select committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Mr. COHEN. I do. TESTIMONY OF RAYMOND COHEN, ACCOMPANIED BY COUNSEL, SAMUEL DASH The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Cohen, you have previously testified before the committee, have you? Mr. COHEN. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. Will you state your present business or occupation, please, sir? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. COHEN. Secretary-treasurer and business manager of Teamsters Local 107, Philadelphia. The CHAIRMAN. I forgot to ask you to state your name. That is Raymond Cohen? Mr. COHEN. My name is Raymond Cohen, and I live in Brigantine, N.J. The CHAIRMAN. Counsel, will you identify yourself for the record? Mr. DASH. Samuel Dash, 1328 Land Title Building, Philadelphia, Pa. The CHAIRMAN. All right, Mr. Kennedy. Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Cohen, before I get into the matter that arose the other day, you appeared before this committee, I believe, in 1958, and there were established certain irregularities in the use of union funds on your part. Has Mr. Hoffa taken any action to remove you from office, Mr. Cohen? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. COHEN. I decline to answer the question under the fifth amend ment. Mr. KENNEDY. Have you returned to the union any of the money you took from the union? Mr. COHEN. I decline to answer the question under the fifth amendment. The CHAIRMAN. How much was shown? Mr. KENNEDY. Some $250,000 that was misused and some $500,000 that was more questionable. Is that correct, Mr. Cohen? Are my figures correct? Mr. COHEN. I decline to answer the question under the fifth amendment. Senator CURTIS. Mr. Chairman The CHAIRMAN. Senator Curtis? Senator CURTIS. Do you hold the same position in this union now that you did when this matter was presented in public hearing before? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. COHEN. Yes, Senator. Senator CURTIS. Has there been any move to remove you? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. COHEN. I decline to answer the question under the fifth amendment. Mr. KENNEDY. Actually, Senator, he has been promoted. After we showed that he had misused $500,000, he was taken down to Miami and on Mr. Hoffa's slate he was promoted to trustee for the whole international union. He is one of the three trustees in charge of all of the funds of the international union. Evidently Mr. Hoffa felt he did such a good job with local 107's funds that he wanted to put him in charge of all of the money of the union. The CHAIRMAN. Is that correct, Mr. Cohen? You have been promoted? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CоHEN. Yes, Senator. The CHAIRMAN. And what is the position that you now hold in the international? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. COHEN. I am a trustee of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The CHAIRMAN. What are your duties and responsibilities in that connection? Mr. COHEN. I decline to answer the question under the fifth amendment. The CHAIRMAN. Well, they are honest, aren't they? There is nothing dishonest about your duties and responsibilities, is there? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. COHEN. I decline to answer the question under the fifth amend ment. The CHAIRMAN. If they are honest, I don't see how it could incriminate you. Are you implying or leaving the inference that your duties there are dishonest? Counsel just said, after showing about the $250,000 and $500,000 as an officer of the local with no explanation, with the matter not cleared up, that you got this promotion, which you acknowledged you received. Is that an added qualification for being entrusted with greater responsibility? Mr. COHEN. Is that a question, Senator? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. COHEN. I decline to answer the question under the fifth amend ment. The CHAIRMAN. Are we actually confronted here with a situation where the bigger the thief is the more responsibility and opportunity is afforded him? Are you going to leave that implication? Mr. COHEN. I decline to answer the question under the fifth amend ment. The CHAIRMAN. All right. Proceed. Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Cohen was subpenaed to appear here last week, I believe on Tuesday or Wednesday Mr. DASH. Wednesday, sir. Mr. KENNEDY. And we Mr. DASH. On Thursday he was subpenaed to appear, to be here on Thursday. Mr. KENNEDY. We received notification, I believe on Wednesday, that he was ill and that there was to be a doctor's certificate forwarded to the committee. Am I correct on the date? Mr. DASH. Yes, Mr. Kennedy, that is true. I called you on the telephone. Mr. KENNEDY. I think we talked about it. Mr. DASH. That is correct. Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Dash said he was representing Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Cohen was ill, and that he had talked to him on the telephone and had sounded ill; that he would not be able to appear; that he was getting a doctor's certificate, which ultimately arrived, from a Dr. William Hughes, saying that Mr. Cohen was too ill to appear. I believe we discussed at that time the fact that it would take a week or so before Mr. Cohen would be able to come. I believe that we set up Wednesday morning as to the time that he would appear. Mr. DASH. That is correct, Mr. Kennedy. Mr. KENNEDY. We went through our hearings on Thursday. On Friday, Senator, we received a message from Philadelphia that Mr. Cohen was fishing and was participating in the tuna tournament in Atlantic City. So during the noon hour, having full confidence in Mr. Dash and the reputation which he enjoys, the finest reputation in Philadelphia, I made a telephone call to him. I stated that we had received information that Mr. Cohen was not ill but that he was out, away from his home. Mr. Dash was concerned. We discussed it, and he said he would make a call to Mr. Cohen's home to find out about the situation. We discussed the fact that I would like to send an investigator up to see Mr. Cohen and visit him, that it wouldn't be necessary to talk to him, but just to see that he was still in his house and was ill. Mr. Dash called me back some 10 minutes later and said that he had just talked to Mr. Cohen, that Mr. Cohen sounded very ill, that he had awakened Mr. Cohen up from a sleep or that his mother-in-law had gone up and awakened Mr. Cohen, who had been asleep, that Mr. Cohen sounded very ill. We discussed at that time the fact that we might still send an investigator up to Mr. Cohen's home. I believe that was the termination of the conversation. Mr. DASH. That is true, Mr. Kennedy. Mr. KENNEDY. Then I sent an investigator, as we had heard that Mr. Cohen was participating in the tuna tournament. I sent an investigator to the dock in Atlantic City, and he went there with a camera. He took a picture of Mr. Cohen at around 5:30 Friday evening, or around 5 o'clock, I believe. I am not sure of the time. It was Friday. So Mr. Cohen was requested to come down to the committee. He came down. He was first requested to come down on Saturday, because our investigator subpenaed him when he met him on the dock on Friday and took his picture. He subpenaed him to come down on Saturday. He and Mr. Dash came down. It was postponed until today. He is here under those subpenas today. The CHAIRMAN. Have we a calendar here so I can get my bearings? Mr. KENNEDY. Is that a fair recitation of the facts? Mr. DASH. Yes, it is, Mr. Kennedy. The CHAIRMAN. The statement of the doctor was given on the 24th day of June, which would be Thursday of last week. Is that correct? Mr. DASH. No; the affidavit was given on Wednesday of last week, Senator. The CHAIRMAN. It would be Wednesday of last week. Mr. DASH. That is true, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Wednesday of last week. The affidavit will be printed in the record at this point, the affidavit from the physician. Among other things, it says: Your deponent further states that it is his professional opinion that Mr. Cohen cannot leave his bed to attend to any matters of business or to appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field for at least 1 week without seriously endangering his health. The affidavit was given by Dr. J. William Hughes, Jr., of 3002 Brigantine Avenue, Brigantine, N.J. J. William Hughes, Jr., of 3002 Brigantine Avenue, Brigantine, N.J., being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he is a physician duly licensed by the State of New Jersey to practice medicine and that he has examined Raymond Cohen, 1605 Brigantine Avenue, Brigantine, N.J., on June 23, 1959, and has on the basis of this examination determined that the said Raymond Cohen has a severe virus infection and must be confined to bed for about 1 week. Your deponent further states that it is his professional opinion that Mr. Cohen cannot leave his bed to attend to any matters of business or to appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field for at least 1 week without seriously endangering his health. J. WM. HUGHES, Jr., M.D. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 24th day of June A.D. 1959. My commission expires August 26, 1962. BERTHA O'NEILL, Notary Public of New Jersey. Mr. DASH. Senator, the doctor has voluntarily come to Washington and is present in this room as a voluntary witness. The CHAIRMAN. That is fine. All right. We will be glad to hear him. As I understand you, counsel, this was given on Wednesday. On Friday-who was the investigator that went up there? Mr. KENNEDY. We sent somebody from our Philadelphia office, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Is he present? Mr. KENNEDY. He is not. It was George Nash who went up. Mr. KENNEDY. We have pictures that he took at that time. The CHAIRMAN. Unless these folks can identify them, we may have to send for the investigator to have him here. Mr. Cohen, I present to you a photograph which shows a dozen fish and four people. I ask you to examine it and state if there is anything in that photograph that you identify, particularly the people present shown in it. (The photograph was handed to the witness.) (The witness conferred with his counsel.) The CHAIRMAN. Do you identify that photograph? The CHAIRMAN. Do you know when it was taken? Mr. COHEN. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. The photograph may be made exhibit No. 46. (Photo referred to was marked "Exhibit No. 46" for reference and may be found in the files of the select committee.) The CHAIRMAN. Do you recognize anyone in the photograph? Mr. COHEN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Are you in that photograph? Mr. COHEN. Yes; I am. The CHAIRMAN. Where and when was the photograph taken? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. COHEN. The photograph was taken on the dock at the tuna tournament in Atlantic City, N.J. |