 Much of the Permanent Subcommittee 's work focused on a scandal which emerged in 1956 in the powerful trade union , the International Brotherhood of Teamsters . In the mid @-@ 1950s , Midwestern Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa began an effort to unseat Dave Beck , the union 's international president . In October 1955 , mobster Johnny Dio met with Hoffa in New York City and the two men conspired to create as many as 15 paper locals ( fake local unions which existed only on paper ) to boost Hoffa 's delegate totals . When the paper locals applied for charters from the international union , Hoffa 's political foes were outraged . A major battle broke out within the Teamsters over whether to charter the locals , and the media attention led to investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations . 
