海角大神

A son probes his stepfather鈥檚 ties to Jimmy Hoffa

Jack Goldsmith untangles a family relationship that involved links to the mob and the 1975 disappearance of Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa.

Jack Goldsmith, who is the Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Law at Harvard University, couldn鈥檛 have chosen a more different career path than that of his stepfather, Charles 鈥淐huckie鈥� O鈥橞rien.

O鈥橞rien was Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa鈥檚 confidante and he also had close ties to the organized crime figures suspected in Hoffa's still unsolved 1975 disappearance. O鈥橞rien could never shake suspicions that he drove Hoffa to his abduction.

It鈥檚 not surprising that Goldsmith distanced himself from his stepfather as he moved toward adulthood and aspired to an elite legal career. He changed his name and ultimately cut O鈥橞rien out of his life altogether.

They would reconcile decades later after Goldsmith鈥檚 experiences in the post-9/11 Justice Department made him rethink his views about government overreach. Having his own kids made Goldsmith question his decision to cut off the only father figure he鈥檇 ever known.

With 鈥淚n Hoffa鈥檚 Shadow: A Stepfather, a Disappearance in Detroit, and My Search for the Truth,鈥� Goldsmith set out to understand exactly what, if any, role O鈥橞rien played in Hoffa鈥檚 disappearance and perhaps cast his stepfather in a better light.

I鈥檓 not spoiling anything by saying he doesn鈥檛 solve one of the greatest mysteries in American history, a puzzle that鈥檚 eluded two generations of FBI agents and countless amateur sleuths. Others can decide whether Goldsmith has unearthed anything new about Hoffa鈥檚 disappearance.

Regardless, Goldsmith has produced a wonderful book about the complicated relationship between a deeply flawed stepfather and the adopted son he loved deeply and forgave unconditionally for casting him aside.

O鈥橞rien鈥檚 trajectory is largely fixed by two father figures he met as a child after his own dad abandoned him: Hoffa and Detroit mobster Anthony Giacalone, whom Hoffa was supposed to meet on the day he vanished.聽聽

O鈥橞rien, much to his detriment, remained equally loyal to Hoffa and the Teamsters and to Giacalone and the Cosa Nostra, though his mixed Italian-Irish heritage meant he couldn鈥檛 become a made-man himself.

Goldsmith pulls no punches, portraying O鈥橞rien as a tragic although not entirely sympathetic figure.

O'Brien is not the savvy consigliere Tom Hagen of 鈥淭he Godfather,鈥� whom author Mario Puzo modeled on O鈥橞rien and Robert Duvall later played in the movies. Rather, O鈥橞rien comes off as a loyal but often hapless sidekick who dutifully carried out Hoffa鈥檚 directives, whether they involved attempted jury tampering or still more cringeworthy tasks.

He and a Teamsters colleague once paid a friend at the Wayne County Morgue $1,000 for a cadaver鈥檚 head that they boxed, wrapped, and delivered to the editor-in-chief of The Detroit News. The newspaper had angered Hoffa with its critical coverage of the Teamsters.

Still, Hoffa thought O鈥橞rien was too unreliable to run a union local.

Goldsmith doesn鈥檛 excuse O鈥橞rien鈥檚 misdeeds. But he comes to view his stepfather鈥檚 experience as a target of then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy through the prism of his own experiences reviewing the legality of new surveillance powers granted after the 9/11 attacks.

鈥淚t turned out that the Justice Department, as Chuckie had always said, was a dangerously powerful institution with surveillance and prosecution powers that, in pursuit of a righteous cause, were easy to abuse,鈥� Goldsmith writes.

Goldsmith argues that the zealous Teamster prosecutions permanently damaged organized labor鈥檚 public image and opened the door for far worse mob infiltration after Hoffa went to prison in 1967.

Goldsmith also makes the case that O鈥橞rien wasn鈥檛 involved in Hoffa鈥檚 later abduction, a view shared by many FBI agents involved in the investigation. More likely, O鈥橞rien was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time as the mob sought to silence Hoffa before he exposed the cushy relationship between the Teamsters and organized crime.

O鈥橞rien鈥檚 鈥渆ccentric integrity鈥� as Goldsmith calls it and fealty to omert脿, the mob鈥檚 code of silence, would never allow him to be completely honest about what he knew, even with his own son.

He and Goldsmith had only one entirely unguarded conversation during which O鈥橞rien dished a bit about what role some organized crime figures might have played in Hoffa鈥檚 murder. He quickly came to regret his candor but never insisted on keeping it out of Goldsmith鈥檚 book 鈥� or even reading the manuscript when given a chance.

鈥淢aybe he wanted the secrets out, but didn鈥檛 want the knowledge of, and thus the responsibility for, their publication,鈥� Goldsmith writes. 鈥淢aybe he wanted to clear his name at any cost. Or maybe he knew how long and hard I had worked on the book, and he decided to sacrifice his honor and pride out of love for me.鈥�

鈥淚 never asked,鈥� Goldsmith adds.

Seth Stern is a Bloomberg Law editor and co-author of 鈥淛ustice Brennan: Liberal Champion.鈥�