Jack Goldsmith talks about Jimmy Hoffa, his stepfather, and Martin Scorsese’s new movie

On the NYR Daily this week On Thursday we published an essay by Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith, “[Jimmy Hoffa and ‘The Irishman’: A True Crime Story?](” The Irishman is Martin Scorsese’s new movie, starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci; the New York Film Festival opened Friday with its premiere. The film concerns, among other things, the mafia plot to kill Teamsters Union boss Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared, presumed murdered, in 1975; it draws principally on a 2004 book that was based on a deathbed confession by the purported hitman, Frank Sheeran. This week also saw the publication of Goldsmith’s new book, [In Hoffa’s Shadow](. It is the story of Hoffa’s rise and fall, of his lasting significance in the history of American labor, and of Goldsmith’s relationship with Charles (Chuckie) O’Brien, Hoffa’s closest aide—and Goldsmith’s stepfather. The simultaneous appearance of movie and book was “mostly a coincidence,” Goldsmith told me via email, except that Chuckie had hoped Jack’s book could come out ahead of The Irishman—for reasons that gave rise to the Daily essay. Photo by Martha Stewart “I idolized Chuckie in my teens, and he was a great father,” explained Goldsmith. “I broke with him in my twenties, when in law school, out of concern about his impact on my career. After reaching one professional peak, in the Justice Department, I regretted our breach and the pain I caused, and we reconciled. We grew closer than ever during the writing of the book.” Goldsmith’s book tells that story, and in doing so, also attempts to exculpate O’Brien from suspicion of involvement in Hoffa’s murder. O’Brien had come under scrutiny in the police investigation, but Frank Sheeran’s confession has become one of the most influential accounts to place Chuckie in the frame as the man who picked up Hoffa in Detroit and drove him to his death. Goldsmith interviewed a dozen former and current FBI agents in the course of his research, including the original four investigators from the 1970s, and found strong grounds for his stepfather’s claim of innocence. The Scorsese film, Goldsmith fears, threatens to undo that by reinforcing the conventional wisdom based on a confession that lacks credibility—not least with the FBI. Chuckie and Jack’s mother, Brenda, are still alive and still together. Despite his own reconciliation, I was curious about how Goldsmith saw his stepfather now—innocent of Hoffa’s death, Jack believes, but certainly mixed up with the mob at one point, and surely no angel. “He and I have very different worldviews, and he has his flaws, as we all do,” said Goldsmith. “But he is a man of enormous (though eccentric) integrity, and he taught me a great deal, especially about fatherhood, loyalty, and love.” Goldsmith’s sense of loyalty was tested famously during his time at the Department of Justice, where, in 2003–2004, he headed the Office of Legal Counsel. It was at the height of the Bush administration’s “war on terror,” and Goldsmith found himself in the eye of that storm. In 2004, his legal decisions led to then-Acting Attorney General James Comey’s refusal to reauthorize the warrantless surveillance program known as Stellar Wind, and to the withdrawal of the notorious Torture Memos, which had facilitated the CIA’s rendition and “enhanced interrogation” programs. Goldsmith resigned from the DOJ in June 2004, a turning-point. “It was a searing experience,” he said. “It significantly deepened my faith. It significantly deepened my understanding of the executive branch, and law, and power. And it started me on the path to reconciliation with Chuckie.” The episode also helped to shape Goldsmith’s understanding of modern American history—including the Hoffa story. The name Hoffa has practically become a byword for corrupt boss unionism, though some argue that the Teamsters leader dealt with the mob for tactical and transactional reasons, not simply for personal gain. But it was chiefly Robert F. Kennedy who turned public attitudes against organized labor, Goldsmith argues, by hounding Hoffa from the late 1950s through 1964, first in Senate hearings on racketeering and later when RFK was attorney general in his brother’s administration. Eventually, the feds got their man and Hoffa went to jail in 1967. His sentence was commuted by President Nixon in 1971, but then Hoffa’s efforts to regain power in the Teamsters became inconvenient to La Cosa Nostra. “There are many lessons [from the Hoffa saga],” Goldsmith told me, “but the main one is: the government is most dangerous and least accountable when it pursues threatening enemies within.” In 2010, Goldsmith joined with two lawyer friends, Benjamin Wittes and Robert Chesney, to co-found the [Lawfare blog](—which, with support from the Brookings Institution, has become an indispensable source of smart legal analysis, particularly on national security issues ([its current podcast]( on the Mueller Report is, in my view, essential listening). Given his experience in the Bush administration, how worried is Goldsmith today about the rule of law, I wondered. “I am worried about it. But I worry more about Trump’s incessant institution-wrecking norm-busting,” he answered, “and the institution-wrecking norm-busting in response and opposition to him. It’s a wicked downward spiral.” For everything else we’ve been publishing, visit the [NYR Daily](. And let us know what you think: send your comments on articles or this newsletter to Lucy McKeon and me at daily@nybooks.com; we do write back. Matt Seaton Editor, NYR Daily You are receiving this message because you signed up for email newsletters from The New York Review. [Update preferences]( The New York Review of Books 435 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014 [Unsubscribe](