Laborers for JUSTICE©

 

CONFIDENTIAL: NOT FOR PUBLIC FILING

PENDING COURT REVIEW

EXHIBITS

TO

TRANSITION REPORT TO INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR

UNITEL INTELLIGENCE GROUP, INC.

REGARDING SHOP STEWARD ISSUES

 

BOOK I

EXHIBITS 1         THROUGH 3                   

 

Exhibit No. Description

 

1. Transcripts of Anthony Arguelles depositions

                1. December 15 , 2004   PDF version of file

                2  January 7, 2005           PDF version of file

2          . Transcript of Stephen Arguelles deposition

3            Transcript of Robert Defeo deposition

 


December 15 , 2004

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, x

Plaintiff,

9 0 CIV 5722                     

-against- (CSH)

DISTRICT COUNCIL OF NEW YORK CITY

AND VICINITY OF THE UNITED

BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND

JOINERS OF AMERICA, et.al.,

Defendants.

Independent Investigator Deposition x

December 15 , 2004                            

5 :00 o'clock p.m.

 

DEPOSITION of ANTHONY ARGUELLES,

taken by the Independent Investigator, Walter

Mack, Esq., pursuant to letter subpoena, at the

offices of Doar, Rieck & Mack, Esqs., 217          

Broadway, 7 th Floor, New York, New York

10007-2911, before Stewart Nissenbaum, a Shorthand

Reporter and Notary Public of the State of New

York.

ORIGINAL

TANKOOS REPORTING COMPANY, INC.

3  05  Madison Avenue         14 2 Willis Avenue

Suite 4 49                P.O. Box 3 47

New York, N.Y. 10165            Mineola, N.Y. 115 01

(212 )3 4  9  -9 6 9 2           (516  )74 1-5 23 5          

 

APPEARANCES:

 

 

DOAR, RIECK & MACK, ESQS.

217  Broadway, 7 th Floor

New York, New York 10 007 -2 9 11

BY: WALTER MACK, ESQ.

Independent Investigator

 

O'DWYER & BERNSTEIN, ESQS.

Attorneys for District Council

5  2   Duane Street

New York, New York 10           007          

BY: GARY ROTHMAN, ESQ.

 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

U.S. Attorney's Office

Southern District of New York

8  6    Chambers Street

New York, New York 10 007          

BY: LISA ZORNBERG, ESQ.

Assistant U.S. Attorney

 

DINO J. LOMBARDI, ESQ.

Attorney for Witness

5 2 Duane Street

New York, New York 10 007          

*

 

1                                                   3                   

2           MR. MACK: Let's go on the

3             record.

4         Mr. Arguelles, good evening. My

5            name is Walter Mack, and I want to take

6            a few moments just to go through what's

7            happening tonight. And although most of

8          the people in the room, besides you and

9                   I will tune out of this, and the court

10            reporter, there are important messages

11              in what I'm going to say. It is

12           important that you understand what is

13            happening, what your rights are, various

14             aspects of what we are going to do

15            tonight. It is important that some of

16            these matters be raised; and if you have

17            any questions about them, although

18          you're represented by experienced

19              counsel, so experienced that I will give

20             you a special little part which I will

21              talk to you about, what I call a

22             conflict; so it is important that you

23                listen.

24                     If there are any questions that

25                you might have, please raise them. And

 

1                                                          4                           

2           what I always say, or try to say, early

3            on, is, that if at any time you would

4             like to leave the room and have some

5            private moments with Mr. Lombardi to

6            discuss anything, that's your right to

7            do so, and I would encourage you to do

8          so, rather than guess or make an

9             assumption. You have the benefit of

10            counsel at your side, you might take

11                 advantage of that when necessary; and I

12           will excuse you and give you whatever

13             time is necessary for you to get the

14               benefit of his advice.

15            To start from the beginning, my

16            name is Walter Mack; I'm the Independent

17            Investigator. I'm an agent of the

18          Court, Federal District Court Judge

19                   Charles S. Haight, Jr., and although

20             there are representatives here who I

21              will introduce you to in a moment, from

22              the Government and from the District

23               Council, this is a proceeding conducted

24                at my request and pursuant to my rules

25                as an agent of the Court.

 

1                                                                   5          

2           I have no independent authority

3            to discipline you, to prosecute you, or

4            to take adverse action against you

5            directly. So what I do have are

6            specific rights set forth in an Order

7            appointing me. And the right and the

8          authority that I have, most pertinent to

9            what we are doing tonight, is that when

10            I receive complaints about the conduct

11         of a carpenter, I have the ability to

12           choose to question that person under

13           oath, and you are amongst many. I want

14             you to understand that I didn't pick

15            your name out of a hat. It is because

16            your name has been given to me through

17            the operation of a hotline as to a

18          number of complaints, and you are among

19         many individuals as to whom I felt it

20          was important to hear from directly.

21                   And once I hear your information, it is

22            very likely that it will be part of a

23             shop steward' report to Judge Haight in

24             which I comment on various practices and

25              things that I have found.

 

1                                                                 6   

Laborers for JUSTICE©

       

2           So that's a very general way of

3           telling you what we are about tonight,

4            and trying to put you at ease; you're

5            not alone here. The fact that you have

6            been singled out to spend the evening

7            with me, you are amongst an august

8          crowd; and the reason you're here is not

9                   because your talent and skills as a shop

10            steward are at issue. There are some

11         questions that need to be dealt with,

12           and no matter what my personal opinions

13          may turn out to be, I have really no

14            authority to impose those; and whatever

15            decision, if any, would be made at the

16            conclusion of my work, will be made by

17            the judge with the help and maybe with

18          the participation of the Government, and

19            most importantly, the District Council,

20            who is responsible for conducting their

21             own disciplinary process and conducting

22             and managing the union.

23             The most important thing I say to

24              you to tonight is coming right now. You

25               will be placed under oath in a few

 

1                                                                            7          

2           moments, and if there's some experience

3            to my approximately two years that I

4             have been at it, one stands out, and

5            some of the people in this room,

6            excluding your counsel, have been privy

7            to, recently, a whole series of

8          individuals who made the mistake of

9                   lying under oath about subjects they

10            thought would never come out. The one

11         promise I make to everyone that lies

12           under oath or seeks to deceive me, is

13           that if I can resolve that, and it

14           appears to me after a pretty thorough

15            inquiry that an individual came in and

16            did not honor their oath, it is my

17            commitment that I will recommend that

18          that person be charged with perjury or

19           obstruction of justice. You're not

20             being singled out. I say this in one

21            form or another to every carpenter or

22            witness who appears here under oath.

23             There are times when I get frustrated

24              because some people are smart enough to

25              tell the truth, no matter who it helps

 

1                                                                                8        

2           and hurts, no matter what the situation

3           may appear to be, and those people are

4         always better off than those individuals

5            who, in their first run-through, lie;

6            because the likelihood is, that in time,

7            one way or the other, the truth will

8          come out; and for each and every

9                   individual who has lied under oath, it

10            is my commitment to them that I will

11         recommend -- I'm not a prosecutor, I

12           used to be a prosecutor -- I'm a defense

13          lawyer, so I understand both sides, to a

14         pretty good extent, about the issues.

15            What I really try to emphasize is

16            that it is far better for the witness,

17            for the carpenter, that when the

18          question is asked and answered, that the

19                   truth, the whole truth, and nothing but

20             the truth be the result. We've had

21              pretty close to ten, we'll have ten more

22          people who did not follow that advice,

23             and who, in order to avoid being

24             prosecuted for perjury, have returned to

25        correct the record and apologize to me,

 

1                                                                    9                 

2           and through me to the judge, for

3          dishonoring their oath. I'm not going

4         to dwell on this, I'm not singling you

5            out. It is just a level of frustration

6            with me that individuals, who when they

7            had the first opportunity to deal with

8          the subject matter, have chosen to lie,

9            for whatever reasons.

10            The reasons appeared to be good,

11         and they are reasons such as, I'll get

12           kicked out of the union if I admit this,

13           I'll lose my job if I do this, I won't

14         be able to feed my family, I have to be

15            employed to deal with my

16            responsibilities. These are good

17            reasons, but when placed against lying

18          under oath to a federal officer or an

19           agent of the Court, all of those things

20             are in far greater jeopardy if the

21            person lies under oath.

22           I want to appeal to you. I'm

23             trying to be as clear as possible, so

24              you will tell me the truth.

25              One carpenter this week said,

 

1                                                                       10          

2           Mr. Mack, if you were in the same

3          position as I was, if I told the truth,

4         I'll lose my job, wouldn't be able to

5            work in the industry again; and tears

6            welled up in his eyes when he was

7            speaking about it.

8          I said to him, in those

9           circumstances where you feel that the

10            issue is so significant, that's why you

11         have a lawyer to go to, to try to in

12           some way work out a method of trying to

13          protect that carpenter's livelihood and

14         what's happening, and deal with whatever

15            pressures and stresses may be out there.

16            What I said to him, and I say to

17            you, is this: There's no excuse for

18          lying under oath. I don't expect you to

19            lie under oath, but I want to make

20            certain I've done my level best to

21            ensure that should you lie under oath,

22         the potential penalty is a jail

23           sentence, and all of the things that may

24            be motivated for lying under oath, when

25            you put that against leaving and being

 

1                                                                       11

2           in the custody of the State or Federal

3          Government, it is not worth it.

4         There's always an answer to those

5            pressures, and you have an experienced

6            lawyer at your side should that be a

7            situation. I'm not suggesting that it

8          is, you can find a way to deal with that

9                   challenge.

10            The other part of that, and

11         again, I don't want you to think that

12           I'm really throwing this on you, I try

13           to say this to every witness who

14         appears, I've had too many people lie

15            under oath. I'm recommending in the

16            very near future, in January, that some

17            people be indicted for perjury; not only

18          perjury, but obstruction of justice.

19            Obstruction of justice means that

20           if I'm conducting an investigation and

21            somebody withholds information from or

22            seeks to deceive me, lies to me, tells

23             me 6 0 percent of the truth, with intent

24              to prevent me from working out whatever;

25             that's obstructing a judicial officer,

 

1                                                            12         

2           and that is a federal offense.

3         I'm going to get off this topic,

4         because I expect you to tell me the

5            truth, and I expect you to honor your

6            oath. Sometimes my expectations have

7            not been fulfilled; I'm hoping and

8          begging and praying that in this

9                   situation, they will be.

10            I do want to stress, I can only

11         recommend there will be a criminal

12           prosecution. There have been situations

13          where people have come in and felt that

14         is what the District Council, maybe the

15            Government, have said, that maybe what

16            Mack thinks, but basically, we have a

17            different viewpoint and we'll speak to

18          the judge about our viewpoint. The

19              lawyers for the individuals, it is not

20             Mr. Lombardi, at least, will have their

21             opportunity to speak to the judge as

22           well, about my recommendations. All I

23             can do is recommend.

24                     Let me go through another thing.

25             Mr. Lombardi has probably covered this

 

1                                                                        13                   

2           topic with you. You have a Fifth

3         Amendment privilege as you sit here

4         today. I'm going to ask some pretty

5            broad questions that Mr. Lombardi has

6            heard before with respect to other

7            clients of his, and I'm going to get to

8          that. And you, because this is a

9           judicial proceeding, and not a

10            proceeding of the District Council, you

11         can determine, and I would encourage you

12           to have the benefit of Mr. Lombardi's

13          advice, that you don't want to answer

14         that question because it might tend to

15            incriminate you. That means that you

16            have gotten the benefit of legal advice,

17            because these are difficult questions,

18          not really that difficult, but it is

19           always better to have a lawyer's advice.

20             And so if I ask a question, if you know

21              your answer to it, an accurate answer,

22          would tend to incriminate you

23             personally, not somebody else, it is

24            yours not a right of yours not to

25           incriminate yourself, you can say: With

 

1                                                                             14                           

2           all due respect, you know, Mr. Mack, I

3          just don't want to answer that question

4         because it might tend to incriminate me.

5            You have that right, it is a

6            constitutional right. This is not a

7            criminal proceeding. I am not a

8          Prosecutor. But if it's a choice of

9                   taking the Fifth Amendment or lying,

10            take the Fifth Amendment, because if you

11         lie, you are committing a crime.

12           So I will tell you this: You

13        should be aware, in all fairness, that

14         if you take the Fifth Amendment on a

15            topic which I think is of significance

16            to dealing with an issue within my

17            jurisdiction, such as wrongdoing on a

18          jobsite or something of that nature, the

19            likelihood is, very, very shortly

20             thereafter, that I will refer the matter

21           to-a prosecutor for their own

22           information and evaluation, because I

23            have an obligation, should there be some

24            evidence of criminal wrongdoing, and

25            sometimes that may be all it is, but

 

1                                                                              15          

2           that's up to me, but I don't want you to

3          think that the topic ends there, once

4         you take the Fifth.

5            The District Council, although

6            I'm not entirely clear of their policy

7            on this topic, because it seems to

8          evolve, I think it is evolving in the

9                   right direction, that they have the

10            right to ask you to appear before them,

11         and they do, or may not, maybe that's a

12           better way of putting it, recognize a

13         Fifth Amendment privilege, that if it's

14         carpenter business, I believe it is

15            their position they are entitled to have

16            that information in order to see that

17            the unions are run without criminal

18          involvement.

19                   I'm going to let Mr. Rothman, if

20             he wishes to speak to that topic, speak

21                   to it. I don't want you to think: I

22            take the Fifth Amendment and I can go

23             home. There' would be follow-up by me,

24           because I would try to persuade your

25          counsel rather than going that route, it

 

1                                                                           16          

2           is better to tell me about the topic in

3          some way so the truth can be found.

4         My job is finding facts and

5            reporting them. It is not like you're

6            through with the issue, in fact, that

7            may just be the beginning. In terms of

8          evaluating: Should I lie to Mr. Mack or

9                   take the Fifth Amendment? Take the

10            Fifth Amendment. Do not lie under oath,

11         because that's a crime, it is as

12           complete as of the moment that you say

13          something untrue.

14         I don't want you to be overly

15            concerned about this, because it is

16            really just the reality of a proceeding

17            conducted by a judicial officer.

18          This is a lot less formal than

19            being in a courtroom, and I'm acting as

20             his agent, and I'm trying to do what he

21             would expect me to do. If you do take

22               the Fifth Amendment, and let's say I

23             have information that certain conduct

24              occurred on the jobsite in which you

25           were shop steward, and I have a lot of

 

1                                                                         17          

2           evidence about one site, and I say,

3           well, I want to know what Anthony has to

4         say about this topic, I want to hear his

5            side. You say, I'm taking the Fifth

6            Amendment, Mack, I'm not telling you my

7            side. I have the authority and I can

8          exercise my discretion and say, Anthony

9                   had his, choice and therefore I'm going

10            to decide to infer that the guys who are

11         on the other side, telling me all this

12           stuff about the job, Anthony had his

13             chance, I'm going to conclude in my

14         report that in fact what the other

15            people on the jobsite said is true, is

16            true. That's basically permitting me to

17            draw an adverse inference to you,

18          because when you had the choice of

19            explaining, you took the Fifth.

20             Some of these subjects are

21             complex. I'm just a lawyer, not a

22           carpenter, but I'm trying to at least

23             raise the issue, so if you have a

24              question about the subject, you can talk

25              to Mr. Lombardi about it or raise it

 

1                                                                18        

2           with me, because the one thing that I

3          know the judge would be very unhappy

4         about, is if you were misinformed or had

5            a wrongful idea of your rights.

6            Finally, we'll get off what is

7            preliminary, I don't think this is news

8          to you, but it may be a novel concept,

9                   and that is: Mr. Lombardi represents a

10            number of carpenters, and those

11         carpenters have appeared, and I'm sure

12           he has exercised his discretion and

13          utilized his professional skills to

14         represent them. While he is here today,

15            though, the only person that he has to

16            have concern about is you, that you

17            weather this inquiry and go through it,

18          as he's done with others, and it's at

19              least theoretically possible that one of

20             his other clients might have an adverse

21              position or have something to say about

22              a job that you were on that's not

23             consistent with your testimony.

24                So in the first instance, he

25              needs to evaluate, under the ethical

 

1                                          19                 

2           rules that the lawyers in this state run

3            by, whether he can represent you and not

4         be conflicted out. In other words, if

5            he had a client which you were

6            testifying against, I'm on this jobsite

7            and so-and-so did this, he would have a

8          real problem in trying the figure out

9           whether he can continue to represent you

10            or not. I don't know, nor do I want to

11         know, what you and he talk about, that's

12           his decision to start with. That's

13         called a conflict, hypothetical

14         conflict. Unless I knew all the

15            conversations he had with his clients,

16            which I don't know, I really can't make

17            that judgment. If there comes a point

18          where I realize you're testifying

19                   against somebody, he can't possibly not

20             have a conflict. I don't know that. It

21                   is up to him in the first instance.

22            The next obligation of his is to

23             discuss that issue with you, and for you

24                     to decide, okay, I understand,

25             Mr. Lombardi has conflicts, but I think

 

Laborers for JUSTICE©

1                                                                         20           

2           he can represent me, I have confidence

3            in his defending me. Let's say you had

4         information about a contractor, let's

5            pick for instance, because it is one of

6            my favorites, okay, and if he had

7            represented a Prince person, or

8          something of that nature, he would have

9                   a hard time not being in a conflict

10            position. Even I can figure that out

11         once I knew that he represented somebody

12           from Prince.

13             I'm not saying any of this is

14         true. In essence, I'm trying to give

15            you a hypothetical to recognize that he

16            has to be careful about: Don't say

17            anything about. Prince, Anthony, you can

18          talk about everybody else; Prince is my

19            guy, you can't talk about it. He would

20             have an ethical problem, and you would

21            have a significant criminal problem.

22         This area can be complex, it is not

23             really that difficult, it is really

24             common sense in many ways. I want to

25             make sure you discussed it with

 

1                                                                  21         

2           Mr. Lombardi. If you haven't, you

3          should discuss it with him, and I want

4           to make sure you're content, given that

5            type of scenario, with proceeding today.

6            Have you discussed this potential

7            conflict with him, the situation? You

8          should say yes or no. If not, you

9                   should --

10            MR. ARGUELLES: I think we did.

11         MR. MACK: Do you want to talk

12           about it one more time?

13          MR. ARGUELLES: Sure.

14         MR. MACK: Step out and take a

15            moment. We'll wait for you to come

16            back. Take your time.

17            (Pause.)

18          MR. MACK: You've had a few

19                   moments to discuss it with Mr. Lombardi.

20             Do you have any questions you want to

21              ask about the subject at all? That's

22            the first thing I should ask.

23             MR. ARGUELLES: No.

24                     MR. MACK: Second of all, having

25             had the discussion, having thought about

 

1                                                                             22                    

2           it, are you willing to proceed tonight

3          with Mr. Lombardi as your lawyer?

4         MR. ARGUELLES: Yes.

5            MR. MACK: Fine. I'm going to

6            come back to you in a minute about

7            another topic. I want to introduce

8          everybody and ask Mr. Lombardi for his

9                   wisdom, and any comment he would like to

10            impart before we begin.

11         MR. LOMBARDI: Nothing at this

12           time.

13          MR. MACK: You're content with

14         your situation on conflict?

15            MR. LOMBARDI: Yes.

16            MR. MACK: Fine.

17            Let me introduce the people.

18          Gary Rothman is a lawyer for the

19                   District Council. He is here as my

20             guest, as is Lisa Zornberg, an Assistant

21              United States Attorney with the Civil

22             Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office,

23             but she , she's not a criminal Prosecutor,

24              does represent, as does Gary, the

25           parties in this litigation before Judge

 

1                                                                    23                               

2           Haight, which has gone on under the

3          Consent Decree for a long period of

4         time. And both of them, as parties,

5            have consented to my appointment,

6            resulting in the judge's Order.

7            They are here, both of them are

8          here to represent their clients, in

9                   Gary's situation, the District Council,

10            the broad group. He doesn't represent

11         you directly, but you may wish to, with

12           your counsel, discuss issues about the

13         District Council with him.

14         Ms. Zornberg and Gary are here as

15            my guests. They will be given

16            opportunities to question, if there's

17            something that I have omitted or

18          something they feel that needs to be

19                   clarified.

20             My main reason for doing that is

21             because many of my investigations take a

22            series of months. I have been talking

23             to shop stewards now pretty much during

24             the year 2004  , and I'm going to write a

25            shop steward report eventually. Rather

24                                       

1                                                                 24                                       

2           than causing them to be in ignorance of

3         my concerns about topics, by having them

4         as my guest, not only do they see I

5            don't overlook something or raise points

6            that should be raised that the judge

7            should hear, but they also have that

8          information available to them much

9           earlier than they would have if they

10            have to wait for my report. If there's

11         are changes that need to be made, they

12          - have the same information and are able

13          to use it. That's why they are here and

14         they are here at my invitation. They

15            may ask you some questions if there's

16            something that needs to be clarified.

17            Having made that introduction,

18          let me ask Mr. Rothman if he has any

19           comments he would like to make.

20             MR. ROTHMAN: Your right to

21           exercise your Fifth Amendment privilege

22           against self-incrimination, Mr. Mack

23             explained to you that if you do that,

24             and certainly it is your right to do so;

25            I would add that the likelihood is, if

 

1                                                                         25                      

2           you do that, that you would soon be

3           asked to come in to talk to the District

4         Council. The District Council, from

5            where you are appointed as a shop

6            steward, if you take the Fifth Amendment

7            here with respect to your duties as a

8          shop steward, the District Council would

9                   be interested in talking to you about

10            that.

11         At the District Council, you

12           would not have the same Fifth Amendment

13          right, because you couldn't put yourself

14         in a position for criminal prosecution

15            from the District Council. One other

16            individual has exercised his right to

17            his Fifth Amendment privilege here, and

18          the District Council has suspended that

19                   member's shop steward skill, pending the

20             completion of an investigation, or until

21                   that person provides answers to the

22            questions so that the District Council

23             can determine whether it is appropriate

24              to continue to assign that person out as

25              a union shop steward.

 

1                                                                        2 6          

2           So that you should just be aware

3          of that, and that could be something you

4         might factor into your consideration

5            with Mr. Lombardi, if the situation

6            presents itself.

7            MR. MACK: I'll add to that, I

8          think I said it, I want to reiterate it

9                   in light of what Gary just said.

10            At any time tonight, not only can

11         you go out and talk to Mr. Lombardi

12           about any subject, but should you two

13            wish to discuss with Gary Rothman as the

14         attorney for the District Council,

15            hypotheticals or particular situations,

16            that's fine. He represents the District

17            Council and there may be information or

18          questions you may have. That's a right

19           I would give you, that opportunity,

20             during questioning tonight.

21                   Anything else, Gary?

22             MR. ROTHMAN: That's it.

23             MR. MACK: Ms. Zornberg, anything

24                     you would like to add or mention

25          concerning our preliminary proceedings

 

1                                                                    2 7          

2           here?

3          MS. ZORNBERG: No.

4         MR. MACK: I want to cover a

5            couple of other things that may be

6            important.

7            These six files represent

8          complaints that have been made about

9             you, is what it boils down to, and the

10            various subjects, and I will tell you

11         what they generally are, and don't be

12           scared by the paperwork. We copy large

13          quantities to intimidate you. I'm

14          joking. There are various matters that

15            were put together. I want to say this.

16            There have been a number of people, most

17            of them anonymous, although some we know

18          who they are, who have made reports

19                   about your activity as a shop steward.

20             I'm going to tell you the gist of what

21                   those complaints are. And the reason I

22              say that is, I think it is very

23             important that the likelihood of my

24               knowing an accurate answer on questions

25                I ask you, some of the individuals have

 

1                                                                               2 8        

2           come in and sort of gambled that I would

3            not figure it out, but the reality of it

4            is that, sooner or later, maybe not

5            immediately, you know, the truth comes

6            out. That's been my experience after

7            many, many years in the investigatory

8          area.

9                   In your case, there are many

10            people that have had things to say about

11         you. That doesn't mean anything; that

12           may mean they're jealous of your

13          proficiency and honesty, what have you.

14         I'm going to give you the nature

15            of what they say, so that you have some

16            idea. Besides the most recent

17            interaction, which I'm going to ask you

18          about in a moment, the general subject

19                   matter has been that your time as a shop

20             steward frequently was shorter than it

21             should be, that you would leave a job

22             early, or would not be present, and that

23             you would bestow favors upon the

24             contractors or give them benefits that

25             they were not entitled to have. That's

 

1                                                                          2 9                 

2           the general nature. Plus the fact,

3          significant complaints about your moving

4         from one, the Bloomberg Building, to

5            another Prince job.

6            I just wanted to point out to

7            you, a lot of questions are going to

8          deal with your service as a shop

9           steward. I think it is very, very

10            important that you listen to the

11         question, and make sure you answer

12           truthfully. I would say this:

13         Virtually every shop steward here has

14         gotten into trouble with me because they

15            have lied about questions I've asked

16            them. They have felt they didn't want

17            to admit something that happened, they

18          wanted to describe it in a way that

19          wasn't accurate. And so, I mean, I

20             really want to reach out to you and say,

21           that you're far better off in a

22          situation of just saying this is what

23             happened, because there's considerable

24           question, based upon my investigation,

25           about what's the right way to do things;

 

1                                                                                            3 0

2           was this system the way it should be;

3           who told you what the system is. So if

4         it happened a certain way, it is for

5            other people to resolve whether that was

6            wrong at the time it happened or not.

7            And there's considerable question about

8          whether things -- whether this is the

9                   right way, this is how you do something

10            or not.

11         So I guess what I'm saying is,

12           frequently, the subject matter is not

13          worthy of a lie. You just dig yourself

14         into a far deeper hole by talking about

15            something which there's considerable

16            question as to whether the matter was

17            wrong or incorrect at the time, or

18          something has changed. But by lying

19                   about it and not being forthright and

20             saying yes, you're right, I did do this,

21                   you know, this was the reason, those