John Dioguardi

John Dioguardi, known as Johnny Dio, was a labor racketeer and an ally of Jimmy Hoffa whose influence came into public view through a brutal attack on investigative reporter Victor Riesel. The attack blinded Riesel and helped turn labor racketeering into a televised national controversy, while the criminal case against Dioguardi ended without a conviction.

Labor Racketeering and the Riesel Attack

In May 1956, Riesel, a reporter for the New York Journal American, featured anti-Hoffa Teamsters on his daily radio program as part of his campaign against criminal elements in labor unions. That night, after leaving Lindy’s restaurant on Broadway near Times Square, he was approached on the sidewalk by a man who threw a cup of acid in his face. The acid blinded him.

The account identifies Dioguardi, also known as Johnny Dio, as Hoffa’s ally and says it soon became obvious that he had ordered the attack. Dioguardi was charged with ordering the crime. The evidence presented here does not describe a trial or conviction; instead, the case unraveled after the acid thrower was found dead and other witnesses, having received the message, refused to cooperate. The charges were dropped.

Public Consequences

Riesel’s injury did not silence him. Wearing dark glasses, he appeared on television and continued urging labor reform. His visible blindness and continued advocacy outraged the nation and helped prompt the United States Senate to hold live televised hearings into racketeering in the labor movement. Those proceedings became known as the McClellan Committee hearings.

The hearings brought the conflict around Hoffa into a wider political arena. Bobby Kennedy served as the committee’s chief counsel and principal interrogator; his aggressive work there made him Hoffa’s mortal enemy. Dioguardi’s own testimony was marked by refusal: he invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to every question, including whether he had ever met Hoffa. The episode places Dioguardi at the point where labor violence, witness intimidation, and public scrutiny converged, even as the dropped charges left the attack without a successful prosecution.