What if Jimmy Hoffa had survived ?

Could that have destroyed the italien mob in the 1970s? If he had turned states evidence and gone into witness protection?
 

Chapman

Donor
I question the extent to which Jimmy Hoffa was really willing to turn on the mob, even once he'd made his shady deal with Nixon to get out of prison. Almost assuredly he would not have just gone into witness protection, seeing how badly he wanted to return to leadership within the Teamsters. But Hoffa also knew very well the fact that the mob had no issue killing anyone who was a real problem for them, so if he wanted to live, he'd probably have to drop his bid for leadership and just retire. Use his remaining influence to serve as a behind-the-scenes broker within the union, but accept the fact that he wasn't going to become leader again. The mob had become too used to Frank Fitzsimmons being "in charge" and giving them essentially whatever they wanted.

That said, let's say Jimmy has a total personality change and 1) gives up leadership of the union forever and 2) decides he's willing to put himself and his family through the hell that is witness protection PLUS the risk of whatever the mob might do to them, if they're ever found. If Jimmy Hoffa turned states evidence, it probably would've meant an early demise for the mob. RICO had become law by the time Hoffa was out of prison, and with the shit he knew about how the mob and the Teamsters operated? There'd be fuck all the mob could do, aside from killing him. I suspect that Jimmy didn't have a deep, thorough understanding of all the crimes the mob committed with or without his help, but he certainly knew more than enough to make the case that this was an organized criminal enterprise where orders came from those who did not necessarily carry out the crimes themselves, which is what RICO focuses on. That said, again, I don't necessarily see Hoffa turning like this if for no reason other than the fact that it would severely hurt the Teamsters. In the long run it would probably be a good thing for them, and I know that Hoffa had intense rank and file support that might save his reputation, but there would be chaos in the short term as many union leaders are exposed as corrupt. Maybe in the aftermath of all this, after some time away from the spotlight, Hoffa could retake leadership as a revered elder who saved his precious union. But it seems unlikely.
 
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