Jimmy Hoffa in his green Pontiac Grand Ville at 1:15 p.m. Before heading to the restaurant, he stopped in Pontiac to talk to his close friend Louis Linteau, a former president of Teamsters Local 614 in Pontiac, who at the time ran Airport Service Lines, a limousine service. Linteau and Hoffa used to be enemies but had since mended their differences and by the time Hoffa left prison, Linteau became his unofficial appointment secretary. It was well known in both underworld and labor union circles that Linteau acted as a buffer for Hoffa and that if anyone needed a face-to-face meeting with
Jimmy Hoffa bid in 1972; in prior elections, the union had supported Democratic nominees but had also endorsed Nixon in 1960. Suspicion was soon raised of a deal for Hoffa's release connected with the IBT's support of Nixon. It was alleged that a large sum of money, estimated to be as high as $1 million, was paid secretly to Nixon. Evidence was also alleged of a secret bribe paid in 1960. While glad to regain his freedom, Hoffa was very disappointed with the condition imposed on his release by President Nixon, which prevented Hoffa from engaging in union activities until March 1980.