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Some Hope RemainsWaronf ^ nKlst ecfjally arduous was getting each agency to circulate its data to others on the 3,000 marked hoods- Finally, Kennedy had to inspire the federal in-Exclusivepublicity, Mafia inroads Into nationally vital businesses and the vigor of the new anti-racketeering chief, however, lately have given'-some hope of-renewed battling.The fragmentation of the Justice Department effort againstorganized crime hurts every' Amerian pocketbook.-It means more taxes to pay, “fixed” city ' and state contracts and to make up for Las Vegas skimming” that robs the U.S. Treasury of millions- Jt means funds toBy LESLIE H. WHITTENThi Ughfs Vfritunglo.i SurwyWASHINGTON - The Justice Department's war against- the ...Mafia has de-escalated tonskirmish since the swashbuck- —- .—...ling days when 'Robert F. Ken- ^cketeenng and fails to give vestigators - only the FBI had nedy was attorney general. .' i-e Just!?e Department's anti-ianv really moxie in high places Blasts of adverse political racketeering section ;underl— to believe that backing wouldHenry E. Petersen credit for come • from the absolute top if Teal progress In 1967, there isjthey, moved on a hoodlum with certaiply'good cause for aiarm.lpolitical clout.The behind-the-scenes story Kennedy, even , his foes con-sorrowfully shows how' persory, cede, injkted that hope. He ............,aiittes .and invents stunted _the,spoke with the authority of the program was hitwith a variety Kennedy drive to break the:President, his brother. The in-of unrelated deflators. .The in-back of the Cosa Nostra.'' 1 formation flow, began — a first terest stirred by the V a 1 a c h iOn a skeleton organization set-step — with the FBI giving outjhearings die year before gave up under President Eienhowerjsome of its jealously guarded way to concern about racialstrife. The new attorney gen ‘century. And Robert Kennedy never really pulled out of thedepression brought on by his brother's death -during Ms attorney generalship,.Even had the brilliant, often ruthless c rim e-fighfer snappedback' be could no longer speak with the President’s voice. The anti-racketeering section reflected .;Kennedy’s ....mood,. Zeal flagged., • . .Then in 1961, the- ,-top hoods- . k * lt;« ■ m hRobert Kennedy built . tip a data, but far less than Kencrack unit beginning in 1961 un- ~'J--------- -------der attorney William G. Hundley. Hs aim: To convict, deport,.. IU1M t„n3il with civil suits and other- hostile..treat drag addicts whose habi?jwise discomfit 3,003 leading! But Kennedy was getting his is fed by the mob.and• higher, 8anS**s .with,special tribuIa-Qwn way as of[ea as { a dconsumer nncec for pivr'c nm.lt tons desianed for 100 “top i-.- _. .nedy wanted. On this and other matters, he and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover became highlyconsumer prices for goods 'pro- tkxss deigned duced by mod-controlled plants hoods.” that have strong-armed or-sub-| The purpose of the “topverted competitors out of busi-jfioods drive was to get eveiy-ness- lone-of the 26 federal investi-The GOP clearly plans fogating agencies.- right downmake hay with the crime issue in 19SS — a group of 23 moderate Republican congressmento Fish and Wildlife t- to concentrate on hailing Cosa Nostra leaders.roared at the administration on! -To- -bring the often fiercely Tuesday for doing “little or j independent agencies, pre-tbe hoods were beginning to topple. The Narcotics Bureau always an elite unit, the Internal Revenue Service, with the ’eeling at last that their zeal would, be reflected on high, and .Customs, Secret Service, Alcohol Tax, th# Labor Department sleuths and the smaller agencies were genuinely fired up.nothing about organized crime during the Johnson tenure.eminently the FBI, together oa common projects under teader-eral, Nicholas-Deb, Katzenbach increasingly gave 'his time to civil rights. Hts heart was never in the antiracke leering fights the way his predecessor's was.Most importantly,'the White House — with Vietnam, racial woe and urban nightmares on its hands — did not take thepersonal interest in Hadley'sunit that the Kennedys did. Hundley’s glumness.was clear to reporters. Hts staff began to go. In 1963 and 1961 there were more than 60 lawyers working full time on .organized criroe.o5 ESrSS 5? even 5 JJ8 * d»* * «•* 1965 convicted under the MigratoryAnd while the attack ineptly ship of the anti-racketeering 1 gfo*s tf# mban poor-issoe-ifwurot-seemed an impossible job.Eird Act lor illegal hunting. Then oa Nov, 22, 1963, theSHORT OF HELP? Folks In the market for jobs read. LightCbsa Nostra got its break of the1 Want' Ads regoiariy.
Newspaper Details
San Antonio Light
San Antonio, Texas, US
Sun, Sep 03, 1967
Page 99
Full Page
Clipped by
Madison H.
NA, 25 May 2023
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