Out-of-touch "Racino" DeLeo finally worried about public perception????
After cramming through flawed Predatory Gambling legislation behind closed doors, secret meetings, Gambling Lobbyists' access and passing legislation that short-changes citizens and rewards vested interests, the man has become a pathetic joke.
The legislation was passed with NO SINGLE INDEPENDENT COST ANALYSIS ever conducted.
And much else has been accomplished on this Speaker's watch.
Stop behaving like a clown if you don't want the public to believe you're one.
By Janet WuDeLeo worries about public perception in probation inquiry
House Speaker not asked to testify
Jul 16, 2012
DeLeo worries about public perception in probation inquiry
As Beacon Hill tries to wind up business by the end of this month, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he is concerned about the perception of corruption at the Statehouse.
"I think, especially in my position with the history this office has had, I think I'm concerned, very concerned about public perception," he said.
The Boston Globe reported that federal prosecutors investigating the scandal-plagued Probation Department are focusing on Democratic legislators who may have benefited from the agency’s allegedly rigged hiring system. Those lawmakers include DeLeo and Rep. John Rogers.
According to the paper, Rogers’s supporters suspect that Probation Commissioner John O'Brien allegedly gave jobs to friends and family of key legislators in return for a bigger budget, or they agreed to vote for DeLeo as speaker in 2009. Both men deny the charge.
“I guess that I can tell you that any member who would testify that there was any agreement that if they voted for me there would be a job down the road in probation is being untruthful,” DeLeo said.
Much speculation focuses on Rep. Thomas Petrolatti, who reportedly testified to the grand jury. Senate President Therese Murray and DeLeo said Monday they have not been asked to testify.
If there are no more indictments before the election, incumbents like the speaker and the senate president fear the alleged corruption could cast a pall over all Democrats.
Read more: http://www.wcvb.com/news/politics/DeLeo-worries-about-public-perception-in-probation-inquiry/-/9848766/15565928/-/x1ydgy/-/index.html#ixzz20zPhcWYs
‘Feds not letting up’
Pols say Probation probe sowing fear
By Laurel J. Sweet and Chris Cassidy
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
News that two trusted lieutenants to disgraced former Probation Commissioner John “Jack” O’Brien were granted immunity in exchange for their testimony has reignited fear and anxiety on Beacon Hill over the ongoing investigation into the patronage scandal.
“This is certainly an indication that the feds are not letting up,” said one Democratic legislator, speaking on condition of anonymity about the highly sensitive subject. “They’re moving forward aggressively. This isn’t over by a long shot, and there’s more to come.”
“I would assume it’s making everybody nervous,” said another Democratic lawmaker. “Especially these two guys so high up in the hierarchy, it can’t help but make everybody nervous. ... Who knows where it’s gonna lead?”
As first reported by boston herald.com, Edward P. Ryan, O’Brien’s $93,000-a-year legislative liaison, and Francis Wall, his $119,500-a-year deputy commissioner, have both struck deals with prosecutors, assistant Attorney General Peter Mullin told a Suffolk Superior Court judge yesterday.
“My understanding from the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Mr. Ryan has testified twice before a federal grand jury,” Mullin said.
Now defense attorneys for O’Brien, 55, and co-defendant Scott Campbell, 47, former campaign manager to ex-Treasurer Timothy Cahill, are demanding to know what promises may have been made to Ryan and Wall by prosecutors and police to persuade them to testify.
In a potentially damaging disclosure, Campbell’s lawyer Charles Rankin told MacLeod he has seen Ryan’s state grand jury testimony. He said he expects “Ryan will testify that O’Brien asked him to call the Lottery and see if his wife Laurie could get a job there.
“He’ll say, ‘O’Brien asked me to call the Lottery. I called Scott Campbell, who I’ve known for years, and he said Tim Cahill wants to see about you putting on a little fundraiser,’ ” Rankin said.
But Rankin pointed out that’s not the story Ryan told independent counsel Paul F. Ware Jr., whose 2010 investigation for the Supreme Judicial Court blew the lid off the Probation Department’s alleged quid-pro-quo hiring and promotion practices with direct links to the commonwealth’s most influential Beacon Hill pols.
Mullin conceded yesterday that Ryan “did deny before Mr. Ware there was (any) connection between the fundraiser and the hiring of Laurie O’Brien.”
He later told MacLeod, “The explanation is he went to the independent counsel without a lawyer. He said some things that were inaccurate. He acknowledged in his state grand jury testimony they were wrong.”
Neither Ryan nor Wall could be reached for comment.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1061146613&srvc=rss
“This is certainly an indication that the feds are not letting up,” said one Democratic legislator, speaking on condition of anonymity about the highly sensitive subject. “They’re moving forward aggressively. This isn’t over by a long shot, and there’s more to come.”
“I would assume it’s making everybody nervous,” said another Democratic lawmaker. “Especially these two guys so high up in the hierarchy, it can’t help but make everybody nervous. ... Who knows where it’s gonna lead?”
As first reported by boston herald.com, Edward P. Ryan, O’Brien’s $93,000-a-year legislative liaison, and Francis Wall, his $119,500-a-year deputy commissioner, have both struck deals with prosecutors, assistant Attorney General Peter Mullin told a Suffolk Superior Court judge yesterday.
“My understanding from the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Mr. Ryan has testified twice before a federal grand jury,” Mullin said.
Now defense attorneys for O’Brien, 55, and co-defendant Scott Campbell, 47, former campaign manager to ex-Treasurer Timothy Cahill, are demanding to know what promises may have been made to Ryan and Wall by prosecutors and police to persuade them to testify.
In a potentially damaging disclosure, Campbell’s lawyer Charles Rankin told MacLeod he has seen Ryan’s state grand jury testimony. He said he expects “Ryan will testify that O’Brien asked him to call the Lottery and see if his wife Laurie could get a job there.
“He’ll say, ‘O’Brien asked me to call the Lottery. I called Scott Campbell, who I’ve known for years, and he said Tim Cahill wants to see about you putting on a little fundraiser,’ ” Rankin said.
But Rankin pointed out that’s not the story Ryan told independent counsel Paul F. Ware Jr., whose 2010 investigation for the Supreme Judicial Court blew the lid off the Probation Department’s alleged quid-pro-quo hiring and promotion practices with direct links to the commonwealth’s most influential Beacon Hill pols.
Mullin conceded yesterday that Ryan “did deny before Mr. Ware there was (any) connection between the fundraiser and the hiring of Laurie O’Brien.”
He later told MacLeod, “The explanation is he went to the independent counsel without a lawyer. He said some things that were inaccurate. He acknowledged in his state grand jury testimony they were wrong.”
Neither Ryan nor Wall could be reached for comment.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1061146613&srvc=rss
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