Letter to New York Post

Letter to New York Post, November 17, 1999

Gentlemen: On Nov.2, 1999 you published the following editorial on "sleazin'" Harold Ickes and stated Arthur Coia copped a plea to avoid trial. Laborers General Counsel , Michael Bearse, "Coia appointee and Coia lapdog", responded to your editorial by stating falsely that The Laborers International union is made up of 800,000 men and women. The 800,000 figure is pure "bullshit", false, fraudulent, deceptive. a lie, deceitful, and not true. There were 445,754 members in the 1996 election. There are probably 500,000 members right now. Mr Bearse adds the 300,000 associate members of the mail handlers division to the membership figure even though these 300,000 individuals are not covered by LIUNA collective bargaining agreements, do not pay dues to LIUNA, and are not eligible to vote in LIUNA elections because they are not members. See Deputy Election Officer letter to this effect that Mr. Bearse , the liar he is, is well aware of. When Laborers for JUSTICE elects its reform slate of candidates in 2001, Bearse will no longer be general counsel for LIUNA predicts Crimedawg . See if Coia met with Ickes and Victor Kayman in December 1994 in Victor's Maryland summer home while Ickes was in the White House and the RICO complaint was one month old. Were the three of them talking about Labor matters or how to disseminate "bullshit" like how Arthur could pose as a reformer when he was taught by his mobster father how to accommodate organized crime. The LIUNA GEB attorney, DOJ, and Crimedawg consider Arthur Coia an associate/member of organized crime. He was not found innocent of that charge and eventually it will be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be true. Arthur Coia has not yet been indicted. It's coming, Arthur. It's coming. Crimedawg is pushing it. ______________________
	LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA November 12, 1999
ARTHUR A. COIA `General President` CARL E. BOOKER General Secretary-Treasurer Vice Presidents; MASON M. WARREN VERE 0, HAYNES CHUCK BARNES GEORGE R, GUDGER MIKE QUEVEDO JR ARMAND E. SABITONI PETER J. FOSCO TERRENCE M, HEALY RAYMOND M. POCINO EDWARD M. SMITH JAMES C. HALE TERENCE M. O''SULLIVAN Assistant to the General President JOSEPH S MANCINELLI WILLIAM H. QUINN MICHAEL S. BEARSE General Counsel HEADQUARTERS: 905-16th Street, NW Washington, D. C - 20006-1765 (202) 137-8320 Fax; (202) 737-2754 ___________________ New York Post editorial Nov. 2, 1999	Letters to the Editor The New York Post 1211 Avenue of Americas New York, NY 10036-8790 Dear Editor: Your November 2 editorial "Harold Ickes keeps on sleazin'," shows a blatant, irresponsible disregard for facts or the truth, Let me set the, record straight about Arthur A. Coia, General President of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) First and foremost, Mr. Coia has not "copped a plea on fraud charges." In fact, he has been neither indicted nor convicted of any crime and remains as General President of the Laborers' Union. One can only assume that your editorial writers based their comments on recent outrageous leaks from government officials who are determined to undermine the Laborers' Union and its innovative internal reform programs, and to destroy Mr. Coia's reputation, Nearly five years ago, LIUNA entered into an historic Oversight Agreement with the Justice Department in an unprecedented commitment by a labor organization to rid itself of all forms of corruption. Since that time, LIUNA's efforts have been lauded by FBI and Justice Department officials, members of Congress, and others as innovative, effective, and a model for future reform efforts within organized labor. In an internal hearing last year, Mr, Coia himself was the subject of intense investigations and determined prosecution by former Department of Justice attorneys, and was formally and finally cleared of all charges of mob association. It is a travesty that borders on libel and slander to state otherwise in your paper. The Laborers' International Union is made up of 800,000 hard-working men and women from across this country and Canada. As General President, Mr. Coia has proven himself to be an outstanding, effective, and innovative leader who serves his members well. The New York Post could serve its readers well by checking its facts instead of making unfounded and erroneous allegations. Unfortunately, it's clearly the Post that is "ethically challenged." Sincerely, s/Michael S. Bearse Michael S. Bearse LIUNA General Counsel
HAROLD ICKES KEEPS ON SLEAZIN' It looks like Hillary Clinton's top political strategist, Harold Ickes, has once again moved from the frying pan into the fire. John Huang, the Democratic National Committee money-man who helped raise $2 million for the Clinton-Gore re-election efforts, is reportedly prepared to tell Congress of yet another Ickes financial outrage. Huang will testify that, in 1995, then-deputy White House chief of staff Ickes asked him to raise money for the re-election campaign of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.). The problem is that Huang was then an official at the Commerce Department - and the Hatch Act prohibits supervisors from asking subordinates to make political contributions or do partisan political work. To that end, the congressional committee unanimously voted to give Huang immunity in return for his testimony. On top of that, The Post's Brian Blomquist and Gregg Birnbaum reported Sunday that Ickes has repeatedly flouted federal lobbyist-disclosure law requiring him to identify his clients and how much they're paying him. After being ignored for more than a year, officials have referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney in Washington. In an administration rife with ethically challenged officials, Ickes has consistently been at the top of the list. He initially lost out on an administration job over allegations linking him to mob-controlled labor unions. He was also connected to Arthur Coia, long-serving president of the Laborers International Union of North America and heavy Democratic contributor. Earlier this month, Coia, identified by the FBI as an organized-crime associate, copped a plea on fraud charges - conveniently avoiding a trial at which Ickes and other administration officials would likely have faced some embarrassing questions. Despite his role at the center of the now-notorious 1996 Clinton-Gore fund-raising apparatus, Ickes was spared a full-scale independent counsel investigation when Janet Reno, America's "hear no evil, see no evil" attorney general, declined to authorize a probe into charges that Ickes lied to Congress about his role in helping the Teamsters while the union was a potential hot source of campaign cash. With Harold Ickes in charge, "Clinton for Senate" is bound to be as sleazy and corrupt as the Clinton White House.