11. Yes, we have no Central Sanitation
Copyright © 2000 by Dan E. Moldea
On Wednesday, August 23, Cris and I drove to a huge printing plant in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where The Hoffa Wars had just been completed. Paddington's sales manager had asked me to sign 800 copies, purchased by Hudson's, a Michigan-based department store chain, in the wake of Mitgang's article in the New York Times.
When we arrived, a plant executive gave us a tour of his impressive facility, showing us hundreds of newly-bound books. Then they placed us in a small room. Cris had walked out momentarily to get something out of the car when another executive of the company came in and handed me the first copy of the book. Knowing that this was a big moment for me, he smiled and left the room, shutting the door behind him--as if I was going to do something weird with it.
I did stare at it, though, cupping it in both hands and treating it as an icon. Then, I gently ran my fingers along the smooth and shiny dust cover as I looked at it front and back. I opened the book and slowly removed its jacket, feeling its hard cover and the raised print on its spine.
And then I did what every nonfiction author does when he or she first sees his or her finished book: I went to the index. Other than the text itself, there is nothing more important than a good index. And, "This," I said out loud to myself, "is a great index!"
By the time Cris returned, she found me sitting alone in the room, just reading my own book.
* * *
In early September, both books, The Hoffa Wars and The Teamsters, were released.
The following day, I bought a copy of Brill's book when I saw it on display next to mine in a bookstore. Although I had real problems with the manner in which he had depicted Hoffa as a working-class hero and Robert Kennedy as a malicious wiretapper who had violated Hoffa's civil rights, Brill organized his book masterfully and written it well. Still, because of the participation of his consultants, especially Drinkhall, much of the research in the book remained suspect.
As predicted, Brill's material about the Hoffa murder contained no surprises, and I was absolutely joyful when I saw that he had featured the Central Sanitation theory about the disposal of Hoffa's body.
Although his most interesting chapter was a profile of Ron Carey, the maverick president of Teamsters Local 804 in New York, my biggest complaint about his book was his portrayal of the corrupt Ohio Teamsters boss Jackie Presser as a quasi reformer. Meantime, he gave a backhanded treatment to the contemporary rank-and-file reform movements, like the Teamsters for a Democratic Union and PROD.
Bill Wallace of the Berkeley Barb later wrote, "Moldea gives a much fairer view of the Teamster rebel movement," while Convoy, the voice of TDU, which actively promoted my book, said in its review by Mike Friedman, "Moldea explains the rank and file tradition for today's reform movements. He understands that tradition, because he's no outsider to it."
But public interest in the rank-and-file reform movement paled by comparison with their fascination with Hoffa's disappearance. Right off the bat, it was Brill who took the early advantage, and, to my chagrin, my former employers, NBC News and the Detroit Free Press, gave it to him.
On Saturday night, September 9, correspondent Brian Ross of NBC's Nightly News led the program with an exclusive report about Brill's book, claiming that, according to Brill, the FBI believed that Hoffa's body was disposed of at Central Sanitation in Detroit. Ross added that the FBI had no comment.
As Ross's accurate report about Brill's erroneous theory went off the wire services that night, Ralph Orr at the Detroit Free Press published a huge banner-headline story, "Hoffa slain by 2 N.J. men, author says," on Sunday, September 10.
In his article, Orr wrote:
Brill pinpoints Central Sanitation at 8215 Moran in Hamtramck as the place when Hoffa's body was taken. . . . "Hoffa's body was destroyed at the premises . . . by means of a shredder, compactor and/or incinerator located on the premises."Once again, the FBI had no comment on Brill theory.I knew that Brill's Central Sanitation theory was wrong--based on what the FBI had told me--and was furious that the FBI hadn't said so to either Brian Ross or Ralph Orr.
I immediately called one of my FBI sources, saying, "What's wrong with you guys? You've been telling me for years that the Central Sanitation theory is wrong! And now you're saying, 'no comment?' Is this what you believe or not? If not, you have a responsibility to correct what's being said!"
The FBI agent replied, "I told you, we don't believe it."
"Then, damn it, say so! Please issue a statement!"
Within hours, the FBI issued a joint statement from its Washington headquarters and Detroit field office, saying:
The theory that Mr. Hoffa's remains were disposed of at a private suburban sanitation facility [Central Sanitation] was explored at the outset of the case. It was subsequently determined that the source of the information was not reliable. No search warrant was ever requested, issued or executed by the FBI, concerning the sanitation company.Nevertheless, despite the FBI's denial, Brian Ross returned to NBC's Nightly News and stood by his report. And, even though the Free Press had trumpeted Brill's allegations on Sunday front page, the newspaper played the FBI's denial of Ralph Orr's story in a short piece on page three the following day, September 11.In its no-byline story, the Free Press reported:
The FBI Sunday said author Steven Brill's claim that the bureau searched a Hamtramck incinerating company [Central Sanitation] for James R. Hoffa's body was wrong and that his theory on how Hoffa disappeared and was killed is not the agency's "subscribed solution to the case."The FBI added that the source for Brill's scenario was deemed "not reliable."The following day, Tuesday, September 12, Helen Fogel, another reporter at the Free Press wrote a second, front-page story, "TV story on Hoffa called lie," in the wake of the FBI's denials.
The newspaper quoted a very embarrassed Brill:
I was told by the highest possible sources in the Hoffa investigation that the theory advanced in the book was the investigators' leading explanation of Hoffa's disappearance. . . . If they are now denying it, well, I can't speak for the FBI.Any other book by any other author would have been destroyed by this news--yet, Brill continued to survive. And I felt the power of Dick Snyder and Simon & Schuster hovering over this entire fiasco. In fact, Rafe Sagalyn at New Republic, who attended meetings with Simon & Schuster executives, including Snyder, wrote me letter on September 12, saying:Remember one thing: whatever perfidious efforts are/will be made against you--and S & S machinations notwithstanding--The Hoffa Wars will be read. The word about The Teamsters will get out. Your accomplishments have been significant, against formidable odds.Still, I had some explaining to do to my own people. Why did NBC and the Free Press, two places where I had worked, take the lead on Brill's book and ignore mine?In short, both NBC and the Free Press believed that I was flying off walls with my suggestion that Carlos Marcello, Santo Trafficante, and Jimmy Hoffa had arranged and executed the murder of President Kennedy.
Even Brill chimed into this matter, describing my Marcello-Trafficante-Hoffa theory as "total garbage," and adding, "I would be embarrassed to put that in the book."
However, the U. S. House Select Committee on Assassations, which would come to the same conclusion I did a year after the publication of my book, disagreed.