By THOMAS GALVIN
WASHINGTON
Sen. Alfonse D'Amato and a political group he headed got $24,000
from the same labor union his operatives cited to claim potential Senate foe Geraldine
Ferraro has ties to organized crime.
Laborers' International Union boss Arthur Coia,
whom GOP operatives are linking to Ferraro socially, also attended a D'Amato fund-raiser
in recent years, according to sources.
From 1989-96, D'Amato directly received $15,000 from the Laborers'
International Union, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee got $9,000 in
1995-96, when D'Amato was chairman of the committee, according to federal election
records.
"When this matter came to our attention in 1997, Friends of
D'Amato returned all contributions" for the 1998 campaign, said D'Amato campaign
consultant Kieren Mahoney, adding that the senator no longer is chairman
of the Senate group.
Ferraro campaign chief David Eichenbaum said, "This is a
typical D'Amato tactic, playing both sides of an issue and hoping no one notices. This
kind of politics as usual is one of the things people are most tired of about Al
D'Amato."
The bulk of D'Amato's donations came after 1994 news reports that
the Justice Department was actively pursuing racketeering charges against the union and
Coia.
Justice ultimately never brought charges, although it was critical
of Coia and the union - which says it has since taken steps to reform
itself.
In July 1997, D'Amato's campaign returned $5,000 - a year after a
Justice Department internal memo labeled Coia and the union a "mob puppet." The
other $19,000 has not been returned by D'Amato or the GOP group.
An additional $10,000 was given by Laborers'
International to the Senate group in October 1995 but was immediately returned by D'Amato.
The financial connections are surprising
considering D'Amato operatives' attacks on Ferraro's alleged ties to Coia and the
750,000-member union. The operatives have said Ferraro was socializing with Coia well
after reports raised questions about his mob connections, denied by the labor boss.
Coia also has met with D'Amato at least once. He attended a
fund-raiser for the senator in either 1995 or 1996, according to sources.
The union has been more closely aligned with the White House and
Democrats, but several New York Republicans have gotten Laborers' International cash,
including Long Island Reps. Pete King and Michael Forbes.
Last night, Ferraro suggested in a TV interview on New York that
she's ready to put the heat on D'Amato for what she says are his questionable
associations. "He had at one time gone in and been a character witness for someone
who was an organized crime figure," Ferraro said. "He kissed him on both cheeks
when he walked in. That's associating."
Ferraro apparently was referring to D'Amato's 1983 testimony for Philip Basile, who was convicted of conspiring with the late Queens crime boss Paul Vario to gain another mobster's release from prison.