Matthew
McCloskey was
born in Wheeling, Ohio County, on 26th February, 1893. McCloskey also
owned a large construction company based in Philadelphia.
A member of the Democratic Party he
was delegate to the National in 1936, 1940, 1944 and 1948.
A
Roman Catholic, he became a close friend of John
F. Kennedy.
He was an important party fund raiser and in 1954 was Treasurer of
Democratic National Committee. During this period he became associated
with what became known as Kennedy's Irish Mafia (a group that included
Dave
Powers, Larry O'Brien
and Kenneth
O'Donnell).
McCloskey
built the Rayburn House Office Building, the District of Columbia
Stadium and three large housing projects in Florida. In 1962 President
John
F. Kennedy appointed
McCloskey as ambassador to Ireland.
In
1963 Senator John
Williams of
Delaware
began investigating the activities of Bobby
Baker. As a result of his work, Baker resigned
as the secretary to Lyndon
B. Johnson on
9th October, 1963. During his investigations Williams met Don
B. Reynolds and
persuaded him to appear before
a secret session of the Senate Rules Committee.
Reynolds
told B. Everett Jordan and his committee
on 22nd November, 1963, that Johnson had demanded that he provided
kickbacks in return for him agreeing to this life insurance policy.
This included a $585 Magnavox stereo. Reynolds was also told by Walter
Jenkins that he had to pay for
$1,200 worth of advertising on KTBC, Johnson's television station
in Austin. Reynolds had paperwork for this transaction including a
delivery note that indicated the stereo had been sent to the home
of Johnson. Reynolds
also told of seeing a suitcase full of money which Baker described
as a "$100,000 payoff to Johnson for his role in securing the
Fort Worth TFX contract".
Don
B. Reynolds
also provided evidence against McCloskey. He suggested that he given
$25,000 to Baker in order to get the contract to build the District
of Columbia Stadium. His testimony came to an end when news arrived
that President John
F. Kennedy had
been assassinated.
Reynolds also appeared
before the Senate Rules and Administration Committee on 1st December,
1964. Before the hearing Reynolds supplied a statement implicating
Bobby Baker and Matthew
H. McCloskey in
financial corruption. It seemed that the District
of Columbia Stadium government
project was initially fixed at $6m but for some reason it was agreed
to allow McCloskey to charge $20m for the project. However, the Democrats
had a 6-3 majority on the Committee and Reynolds was not allowed to
fully explore the role that John
F. Kennedy and
Lyndon
B. Johnson had
played in this deal.
McCloskey resigned as ambassador
to Ireland in 1964.
Matthew
McCloskey
died in 1973.
Open
Debate on the Kennedy Assassination
(1)
Bobby Baker, Wheeling
and Dealing: Confessions of a Capitol Hill Operator (1978)
Senator Williams continued to pump Don Reynolds, the
insurance man, in search of new fodder. In August of 1964 he forced
the Rules Committee - which had closed shop and was writing its
report-to reopen the Baker case. In a speech to the Senate he said
that in writing insurance on the performance bond of McCloskey &
Company-the Philadelphia outfit constructing the new District of
Columbia stadium-there had been a $35,000 kickback which was to
go to the 1960 Democratic campaign fund. Matthew McCloskey, president
of the construction firm and long a big wheel in Democratic politics-he'd
served as national chairman and as ambassador to Ireland - told
senators that he had not personally handled the transaction and
knew little about it. "These things, somebody goofs once in
a while," he said. The senators did not hold his feet to the
fire. They appeared to be satisfied with his promise that he would
seek recovery of the funds in question, and with his claim that
no more than oversight or a clerical error had been involved.
It
is perhaps significant that he never tried to recover the money.
I was the man who had put Reynolds and McCloskey together, so I
know what the understandings were. As an official in the Reynolds
insurance firm, I received a $4,000 loan from profits the firm made
on the D.C. Stadium transaction.
(2)
Robert Sherrill, The Accidental President (1967)
There
was also something of a stink when it was discovered that a $12,700,000
construction contract was awarded to the firm once headed by former
Democratic national treasurer Matthew H. McCloskey, after he was
allowed to lower his first bid and resubmit it beyond the deadline
for receiving bids. The firm is now headed by his son, Thomas
McCloskey. Old man McCloskey was charged a couple of years ago
with slipping $25,000 to the 1960 Democratic campaign after he
had been awarded a $19.8 million contract to build the DC Stadium.
He constructed the Rayburn Office Building, possibly the most
expensive office building in the world, at twice the original
estimated cost. He was also involved in three Florida housing
projects, costing $28.8 million, which promptly defaulted to FHA.
No financial tie between McCloskey and Johnson has yet been made,
and of course it could conceivably turn out that old Matthew is
just lucky in business.
(3)
Alfred Steinberg, Sam Johnson's Boy (1968)
Reynolds
also told the committee that Bobby Baker and other Democrats
had involved him as a "bag man" to deliver political
kickbacks. This was the case with the D. C. Stadium. Matt McCloskey,
a builder and chairman of the Finance Committee of the Democratic
National Committee, and later Kennedy's ambassador to Ireland,
was successful in winning the low-bid construction contract
for the Stadium, and then was successful in getting the government
to add three million dollars to his bid after construction started.
Baker told McCloskey to take out his performance bond through
Reynolds, a charge of $73,631. But "in error," the
McCloskey check was for $109,205, said Reynolds. Of this sum,
Reynolds said he gave $4,000 to Bobby Baker, $2,500 to the clerk
of the House District Committee, and an additional $25,000 went
to the Democratic party as a 1960 campaign contribution.
(4)
Kenneth
O'Donnell
and Dave
Powers, Johnny, We Hardly
Knew Ye: Memories of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1972)
Matt
McCloskey, the Philadelphia contractor who had been rewarded
with the ambassadorship for his champion fund-raising efforts,
was waiting for us when we came downstairs. "Matt, this
is a much better place than the White House," the president
said. "The party is running into debt, and we need you
back there." Matt, said, "No, no, leave me alone.
If you need money, send Dick Maguire over here and I'll tell
him who to see."
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