Kefauver’s main weakness is that he is a Don Quixote for “causes” (except FEPC), has too much energy and tries to do too many things. He is on almost every regular and special committee it is possible for a Senator to make, so hasn’t time to do justice to any. He is in modest circumstances, cannot be bought or bribed, though he could have had millions to throw the investigation—as it is being thrown anyway. Many believe some of that money went elsewhere, without his knowledge.
An employe of the committee, whose name will not be divulged by us, disgusted by what went on, unburdened himself. He said “a fix was made in Miami” to relieve a certain wanted hoodlum from testifying; and that another deal was put over in Chicago to protect some of the most important Mafistas. A fund was raised in Hollywood to choke off disclosures.
One investigator had as a chief recommendation, other than brief service with the F.B.I., that he had been a cop in a mid-Western city. With this background he was sent in to “bust” the mob in New York, a job that many District Attorneys couldn’t do. He knew so little of New York that he had to ask how to get to Times Square.
This investigator, “unable” to find Joe Adonis during a 90-day search, was very diligent when it came to finding himself a new, high-paying job. During the course of an investigation into mob control of legitimate business, it was testified that one Bill Giglio, now under indictment on a tax rap, had “muscled” into a sugar and candy company during the last war, and that as a result of such activities he now owned a research and development laboratory, the entire output of which was being sold to a large and respected chemical corporation.
While going over Giglio’s books the Kefauver man naturally had occasion to call on the large corporation, and he ingratiated himself with its officers, who were not called to testify in Washington. The result was that, right smack in the middle of the Kefauver investigations, this dick quit to head up the plant-security set-up of the big corporation, which now has a lot of war contracts.
But the payoff is that, a couple of years ago, before the Kefauver Committee was thought of, the same fellow was in charge of security at a Long Island plant making restricted military products. There it was discovered that the future Kefauver agent was protecting the bookmakers in the plant, and he was booted out after the F.B.I. was tipped off. The book at this plant was operated by Joe Adonis. Kefauver was so informed, but did not fire his agent.
Federal and state enforcement agencies are squawking that the mob is getting access to confidential files through leaks in the committee.
But if the committee had wanted to probe, the goods were in reach. Individuals all over the country sought to put facts in its hands. Whenever possible, those who managed the investigations looked the other way.
Bill Drury, the honest Chicago ex-police captain, who was slain by gunmen last September, might have been alive now were it not for this committee. We were in constant communication with Drury, in fact Jack Lait received a letter from him in New York the morning after he was assassinated. Almost his last act was mailing it. When the committee first got under way, your authors suggested to Kefauver that he hire Drury and his partner, Captain Tom Connelly, as investigators. These men knew more first-hand about the underworld than almost anyone alive. Counsel Halley interposed. He told us the men were not “reliable,” because they had been fired from the Chicago police force. That was their chief recommendation to us. They had been rooked out of the crookedest force in the country because they were fearless, honest and untouchable.
We told Kefauver the only way he could convince us his investigation was on the up-and-up was to hire these men. He promised us he would. That was in July, 1950.