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Strike forces claiming they hamstrungareWASHINGTONA bitter, blazing controversy has• *1 •.».*_*. I.**,'**Jackfilliiiierupted inside the Justice Dept, over how to combat organized crime.In theory, the special strike forces are supposed to mobilize the resources of the federal government to disrupt underworld operations and to bear down on the crime lords.The strike force chiefs believe this requires a concentrated, coordinated,national effort without interference from politically appointed U.S. attorneys.Most U.S. attorneys, on the other hand, want to bring the strike forces under tighter control. They are supported by Richard Thornburgh, chief of the Justice Department’s criminal division.Revised, restricted_ In recent months, he has revised and restricted Hie investigative guidelines. He has* also closed down the strike forces in St. Louis and New Orleans, and has given the U.S. attorneys in Newark and New York City jurisdiction over the strike forces in their cities.This has outraged the strike force chiefs, who look upon themselves professionals free of political prsure.It has also upset Internal Revenue Commissioner Donald Alexander, whose agents are helping the strike forces bring the crime bosses to justice.He told us the New Orleans strike force, for example, was developing several important cases.In a blunt, confidential memorandum endorsed by all the strike force chiefs,Michael DeFeo of the Los Angeles strike force warned the new guidelines would “initially reduce the effectiveness of the organized crime program.”. He charged the guidelines wouldexclude “associates and confederates of organized crime members.” But his greatest concern, according to the memo, was that Thornburgh's moves would ultimately abolish the strike force program by dividing its control among the individual United States attorneys.The new guidelines, approved recently by Attorney General Edward Levi, limit the definition of organized crime and require strike force chiefs to inform U.S. attorneys about search warrants in advance.pointed out “the strike forces had the independent, permanent capability for a sustained program that local U.S. attorneys lacked because of their conflicting obligations, fixed terms and higher turnover.”William Lynch, the tough prosecutor who ran the organised crime section, agreed with DeFeo’s assessment.In an earlier memorandum, dated August 30, Lynch warned that the new guidelines “heralds an end to an effective strike force program.”Sources inside the strikeforces have told us Thorn-burgh intends to kill the program. But Thornburgh insisted he has no intention of destroying the strike forceThere are also other new restrictions; strike force involvement in narcotics cases, for example, will be reduced.DeFeo discerned from these developments that the strike forces eventually will be “phased out. absorbed by and conducted under direct supervision of a local U.S. attorney, retaining the strike forces name for public relations purposes.Kill programSources inside the strike forces have told us Thornburgh intends to kill the program. But Thornburgh insisted he has no intention of destroying the strike forces.He didn't rule out the possibility, however, of merging the remaining strike forces into the offices of the U.S. attorneys.In any event, he said he will leave the final decision up to the incoming Carter administration.DeFeo argued in his confidential memo that the strike forces were better suited than U.S. attorneys’ offices to wage war on organizedcrime.The memo, dated September 27,The guidelines will be regarded by Mafia mobsters, he complained, “as limiting the scope of strike force investigative and prosecutive mandates.”Thornburgh responded to Lynch’s complaints by removing him as head of the organized crime section, which oversees the strike forces.Thornburgh told us emphatically that Lynch and DeFeo are wrong. The new guidelines, he said, are merely part of an updating of the U.S. attorneys’ manual.“It is only logical that such an effort would take account,’’ he explained, “of evolving needs, priorities, conditions and relationships in the criminal justice field.”He denied the guidelines would limit investigations to mob members only, but claimed that their associates would also be included in the new definition of “criminal syndicates.”The term, he said, “appears to me to clearly encompass all of those highly organized, disciplined associations engaged in supplying illegal goods and services.”GuidelinesAccording to Thornburgh, “the guidelines are premised upon the continued existence of at least some strike forces, and their working in tandem with the U.S. attorneys’offices.”The Democrats who will take over the White House and Capitol Hill, meanwhile, have expressed interest in the internal battle. Rep. William Hungate, D-Mo., chairman of the House Criminal Justice subcommittee, has asked in a private letter that Thornburgh explain his actions to restrict the strike forces.President-elect Jimmy Carter’s transition team at the Justice Department is also examining the strike force problem. But they had an abrupt “no comment” about their views.Gilmore vows
Newspaper Details
San Antonio Express News
San Antonio, Texas, US
Sat, Dec 11, 1976
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Madison H.
NA, 25 May 2023
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