Senior leaders at a California Teamsters union aligned with California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter are accused of "living large" on union dues, spending tens of thousands of dollars on lavish meals and luxury vacation while avoiding payment of their union dues for years.
Chris Griswold and Sean Harren, longtime leaders of the Teamsters Local Union 986, are accused in a scathing report of making $150,000 in unauthorized credit card charges since 2019. The duo spent lavishly on wine, some bottles costing $890 a pop, and racked up bar tabs that "sometimes topped $3,000," according to a Feb. 13 report from the Independent Disciplinary Officers, an oversight body that the Teamsters created in 1989 at the order of the Department of Justice to eliminate corruption and the influence of organized crime within the union.
The report is a black eye for both the union and Porter, whose embattled gubernatorial candidacy is backed by the California Teamsters. Griswold delivered the union's endorsment of Porter in September on account of her "proven record of putting workers first." California Teamsters contributed $39,200 to Porter’s campaign on Oct. 21, according to campaign finance records. The union also publicly defended Porter after a series of reports about her abusive behavior towards staff and reporters. "In this critical moment in our country, we don’t need to be polite, go along to get along, establishment politicians that keep getting run over by the opposition," Griswold told the New York Times in October.
"Griswold and Harren’s spending habits—aside from being lavish and patently unreasonable—also crossed the line into fraud upon the local union," the report says. The report, authored by attorney Robert Luskin, says Griswold and Harren used union coffers "as a blank check to permit them luxury living without limit"—extending the perks to spouses, children, "non-Teamster friends and hangers-on as well."
Griswold spent $51,261 on the union credit card for personal expenses, used $8,595 in credit card points for trips to Paris and Yellowstone—all while collecting nearly $2.7 million in salary since 2019.
Harren, who collected $2.4 million in salary, used the union card for $82,681 in unauthorized expenditures, according to the report.
And both avoided paying union dues while using union coffers as their personal piggybank. According to the report, Griswold and Harren enacted a clause that exempted senior union leaders from paying dues, saving both more than $4,300 in dues over a 16 year period.
Griswold and Harren resigned on Nov. 3, 2025, with no explanation from Teamsters headquarters for their departures.
It comes at a crossroads of sorts for Teamsters, which more than most major labor unions has sought favor with the Trump administration. The union, which has for decades endorsed Democratic presidential candidates, declined to make an endorsement in 2024. Teamsters president Sean O’Brien blasted Democrats in October 2024, saying the party has "fucked us over."
Teamsters played a key role in securing the confirmation of Trump's labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. The union said it "strongly" supported Chavez-DeRemer, citing her support for UPS worker strikes.
The report was quietly released days ahead of the filing date for the Teamsters leadership elections scheduled for later this year.
O’Brien, who was elected to his first term in 2021, is running later this year for reelection as president. Griswold was elected as the union's vice president at-large in 2021, and was on the O’Brien ticket for the upcoming election until he resigned from the Teamsters in November.
A Teamsters spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon that the union is cooperating with the Department of Labor, which recently requested information about the investigation.
"The International Union did not delay to remove Griswold and Harren from their positions within the organization concluding our own auditors’ review of the local union, and our outside counsel has remained in contact with the DOL as they carry out their own investigation," the spokesman said.
It is unclear whether the Department of Labor is looking into any federal criminal charges against Griswold and Harren. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
But union leaders in the past have been convicted on federal fraud charges for activities similar to the Teamsters leaders. Chuck Rocha, a former political director for the United Steelworkers International union, was sentenced to 24 months probation and fined $2,000 in 2013 after he pleaded guilty to embezzling funds by misusing a union credit card in 2008 and 2009 to pay for golf outings and Stanley Cup tickets.
Rocha, now a CNN analyst and political consultant, has since served as an adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D. Ariz.).
