FBI searches Philadelphia City Hall, union boss' home

[mountaineer]

Shocked, I tell you!

FBI searches Philadelphia City Hall, union boss' home
August 5, 2016 1:14 PM
By Kristen de Groot / Associated Press
via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PHILADELPHIA — The FBI spread across the city today, searching several properties linked to a powerful labor boss and the City Hall office of his protege on City Council.

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed that agents today were searching the South Philadelphia home of Johnny “Doc” Dougherty, a nearby union bar named Doc’s Union Pub, the electricians’ union headquarters and Councilman Bobby Henon’s office.

FBI spokeswoman Carrie Adamowski said she could not disclose the nature of the ongoing investigation, which also appeared to involve state police.

Sources told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the investigation is a joint FBI/IRS probe into alleged misuse of union funds and has been under way for more than two years. Anywhere from 10 to 15 locations are being searched, the sources said.

Dougherty, 56, runs the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 and has long been a powerful political force in the city, most recently helping Mayor Jim Kenney win election last year. Henon is a longtime union official who joined council in 2012.

Dougherty stood outside his South Philadelphia home on Friday, chatting with neighbors, shaking hands and conferring with his lawyer as agents loaded boxes of evidence into a car.

“Nothing’s changed since they were there 10 or 12 years ago. The only thing different is the tomato bushes in the back,” Dougherty told The Associated Press.   ...

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