Jury Still Out

Donovan probe is reopened

Only seven weeks ago, when Special Prosecutor Leon Silverman released a 1,025-page report stating that there was "insufficient credible evidence" to prosecute the Labor Secretary, Raymond Donovan quickly declared that his troubles were over. Not quite. Silverman has reopened his investigation, and TIME has learned that he will present fresh allegations about Donovan's conduct to grand juries in New York and elsewhere.

Phase II of the inquiry centers on the charge that Donovan, then part owner of New Jersey's Schiavone Construction Co., met near Miami in January 1979 with two known mobsters: William Masselli, a member of the Genovese Mafia family and head of an excavation firm that did business with Schiavone; and Albert ("Chink") Facchiano, a convicted loan shark and former capo (captain) in the Genovese clan. The purpose of the Miami get-together was reportedly to set up no-show jobs for Genovese Mob members on Schiavone construction sites. Although Donovan refused to comment on the new inquiry, he has repeatedly denied meeting with any mobsters. He contends he had run into Masselli only about three times, always at job sites, and says he does not know Facchiano at all.

In the first probe, Silverman received so many reports about Donovan's alleged conferences with mobsters in Miami that Facchiano, one of several gangsters mentioned in the allegations, escaped any questioning. Almost all the others had denied knowing the Labor Secretary, and Silverman says that summoning Facchiano then seemed pointless. But Facchiano, who is serving time in an Alabama prison for loan sharking, will now be called to testify. Silverman will also attempt to interrogate two men closely connected with Masselli who were not questioned during the first probe: Joseph Verlezza, an associate of Genovese gangsters, and Alfred Ditraglia, who watches over Masselli's interests in the Miami area, including an oceanfront condominium. During the initial inquiry, Verlezza claimed he was too ill to testify; Ditraglia could not be found by Silverman's staff.

The FBI faces some tough questioning of its own. The Senate Labor Committee is investigating the bureau's handling of Donovan's confirmation probe 18 months ago. The personal files of FBI Director William Webster, forwarded to the committee last month, reveal that the name of Schiavone appeared several times in the bureau's reports on the 1975 disappearance of former Teamster Boss Jimmy Hoffa. That detail would surely have intrigued both the Senate committee that approved Donovan's nomination in February 1981, and the special prosecutor this year. But neither learned about it until last month.

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