Massachusetts: Incapable of Critical Thought

Political hack, Lt. Governor Tim Murray, like too many others, failed to consider the evidence elsewhere, the increased crime, community destruction, the devastation of Gambling Addiction, lack of economic development.




Sunday, May 19, 2013

Murray awaiting slots parlor details , too

John J. Monahan Mass Politics


Lt. Gov. Tim Murray will get one vote on the slots casino proposal for Worcester proposed by Rush Gaming out of Chicago if it makes it to the ballot later this year.

But having put nearly two decades of focused political effort into reshaping and revitalizing the city’s commercial core — and also having a hand in bringing casino gambling to the state along with Gov. Deval Patrick three years ago — the Worcester resident and former mayor has played a key role in events leading up to the slots parlor proposal.

“We know that we lose a billion dollars a year in revenue with people going to Connecticut and Rhode Island and other places,” he said of the decision by the Patrick/Murray administration to propose legislation to award three casino licenses and one slots parlor license in Massachusetts.

“The debate when we filed the legislation was whether there was an opportunity to capture some of that revenue, put adequate protections in place from a public safety and public health point of view and set up a process that was going to be independent with the Gaming Commission,” he said in talking about Rush Gaming’s slots parlor plan for Green Island, a few blocks from the CitySquare redevelopment area.

So far, he did not sound impressed with what he has seen from the Chicago casino company competing with other slots proposals in Massachusetts.

“I think the people haven’t seen a business proposal. So all you can do is kind of speculate until there is a detailed proposal on the table,” Murray said.

“Some people have made up their minds. But to me you have got to see what the specifics are. I don’t think any community should base their economic development strategy solely on this, but it is something to consider and then weigh the pros and cons,” Murray said.

“There are benefits in the form of [LOW WAGE] jobs, but there are cons in that there are a certain number of people that this becomes a health issue with and there is a public safety component that you have to make sure you are vigilant about. So we will see if we get a detailed proposal,” he said.

“It’s ultimately going to be a decision by the voters of the city of Worcester and the Gaming Commission, but like a lot of people, I have mixed feelings about it as I did with our gaming bill to begin with.”

Murray recalled that Richard Friedman — the Cambridge developer who could offer a high class hotel for downtown that would be subsidized by the slots parlor — played a critical advisory role years ago when Worcester officials set about remapping its downtown development plans.

“Long before any of this gaming stuff came up he has been plugged in and exploring the feasibility of doing something in Worcester,” Murray said. “I initially invited him to the city back when the whole idea of CitySquare was just an idea. He has reused historic buildings and that was kind of the idea with CitySquare and Notre Dame Church, whether there could be some similarity to what he did with the Liberty Hotel, which is the old jail,” in Boston.

More recently, “probably over a year ago,” Murray said, he helped arrange a meeting with the city manager, Friedman and others working on the CitySquare project as it was taking final shape.

“He came into Worcester last year, interested in what was going on and exploring in a very preliminary way whether there may be some development opportunities. At that point it is really the manager and Opus/Hanover (the real estate arm of the Hanover Insurance Group developing CitySquare) to deal with that,” Murray said.

“I don’t know, after that initial introduction, who he has spoken to or any of the specifics behind what the proposals are,” Murray said explaining that was the limit of his role.

Murray said he has been encouraged by Friedman’s continuing interest in the city, because he has a reputation for high quality redevelopment and because it shows outside developers see opportunity coming with the revitalization of downtown. The value of the slots proposal, however, remains as much a question to him as many others waiting for specifics from Rush Gaming.


John J. Monahan covers the Statehouse for the Telegram & Gazette.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130519/COLUMN05/105199886

Bob Kraft's Footbridge

Emails show pressure for Pats footbridge

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - E-mails show state employees felt pressured by the governor's office and the owners of the New England Patriots to act quickly on a plan to use federal stimulus money to build a pedestrian footbridge near the team's stadium in Foxboro.

The Obama administration later nixed the $9 million project, feeling it was an inappropriate use of the taxpayer money. The decision followed news reports about maximum political donations made by Robert and Myra Kraft, who own the team, to Gov. Deval Patrick, Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray and the state Democratic Party.

Both Patrick and the Krafts denied any quid pro quo.

On Friday, Patrick's office released thousands of e-mails after a public records request filed by The Associated Press. The request was made in December, but it was fulfilled over six months later.

It also was delivered on a Friday afternoon - a common practice for the administration when it is trying to minimize coverage of negative news.

One e-mail shows Brendan Ryan, Patrick's former campaign driver and a top gubernatorial aide, personally inquiring about the status of the project.

"I want to make sure I understood what you were saying about the Foxborough project at yesterday's meeting," Ryan wrote on Nov. 13.

Two hours later, Christine Mizioch, the transportation department's design-build project manager, wrote to the state highway commissioner and others: "They are very concerned about this project being feasible."

She added: "We may have to be more flexible with (our) process to allow this project to meet the deadlines."

In another e-mail two days later, Mizioch again said she would have to alter standard operating procedures for the project to meet a January deadline for stimulus funding.

"Basically, we could make it for Foxborough, but we would have to shortcut some of our preferred practices, which I have heard loud and clear no one likes," she wrote.

Mizioch, who met with Kraft representatives about the project, says in a third e-mail 10 days later, "The Krafts want this bridge open prior to next season, so we are looking at a completion of 12/31/2010."

State campaign finance records show the Krafts made $500 maximum political contributions to Patrick and Murray, as well as maximum $5,000 donations to the state Democratic Party, as the project was being reviewed last fall.

Both Patrick and the Krafts have said there was no connection between the political contributions and the administration's official actions. Patrick said the bridge was a vital link between the stadium and industrial property the Krafts own on the opposite side of Route 1.

The governor also said it would have been an appropriate use of stimulus money because it would have leveraged the job-creating construction of an office park by the Krafts.

Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan said Friday the pressures Mizioch mentioned stemmed from the accelerated schedule for spending stimulus dollars, and were not unique to the Patriots project. At one point last year, House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., complained Massachusetts was not spending its stimulus money quickly enough.

"What we were going through at the time is that Oberstar was putting the pressure on us to spend the money more quickly," said Mullan. "We were pushing it on a lot of projects, just trying to deal with the staggering number of projects we have."

Mullan also denied any effort to minimize publicity about the project pressure.

"It was a big request," the secretary said. "We have lots of public records requests that we're trying to address, but there is no coordinated campaign to give it out on particular days."

The Arrogance of Beacon Hill

Caught with their hands in the business-as-usual cookie jar of placing inept cronies in state jobs, failures to audit and Governor Slot Barns campaigning for higher office as scandals swirl around him, there is simply no end.

This might be of interest:

Tim Murray: The Godfather


Ex-Chelsea housing chief’s son is fired
Held $60,000 job on Appeals Board
By Andrea Estes

The son of the embattled former Chelsea Housing Authority executive director Michael E. McLaughlin was fired yesterday from his $60,000-a-year job on the state Board of Appeals, which sources said he landed with the help of Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray.

Matthew McLaughlin, who was referred for the board position by Murray in 2008, was fired after an internal investigation found that he was absent when he said he was at work, according to sources briefed on his termination.

McLaughlin, 41, was found to have falsified at least one time sheet, said the sources. He also said he was sometimes out of the office on “flex time,’’ but the agency does not allow employees to work flexible hours, the sources said.

Transportation Secretary Richard Davey launched an investigation a day after the Globe reported last month that Matthew McLaughlin had a spotty attendance record at the agency. The board hears thousands of appeals each year from drunk drivers who have lost their license.

The younger McLaughlin, who was the appointee of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to the board, was given a letter that thanked him for his service and made no mention of any investigation into his work habits, according to a source briefed on the dismissal.

Department of Transportation spokeswoman Cyndi Roy declined to discuss specifics, saying: “Confidentiality rules bar us from discussing specific personnel matters. Registrar [Rachel] Kaprielian has exercised her authority to make a managerial change.’’

The appeals board job was not the first position Matthew McLaughlin may have won with the help of his father. Before he was appointed to the Appeals Board, the younger McLaughlin was hired for a $65,000-a-year job by Roca, a Chelsea nonprofit social service agency.

He became a Roca project director in January 2006. Two months later, the Chelsea Housing Authority signed the first of three contracts awarded to Roca worth $240,000.

On March 23, Matthew McLaughlin cosigned a formal letter to his father thanking him and the Chelsea Housing Authority for their support. “You and your staff are incredibly helpful and supportive,’’ the letter said.

For three years, the housing authority paid Roca for services that included painting, furniture moving, raking leaves, and other odd jobs.

Roca’s executive director, Molly Baldwin, said that there was no connection between the hiring of Matthew McLaughlin and the Chelsea Housing Authority contracts.

“Matthew was interested; we had a job opening. He applied, and he got hired,’’ she said, adding that she did not know Michael McLaughlin before she hired his son. Matthew, she said, helped launch a work program for underemployed young people.

“To insinuate that there was some favoritism or deals connected to this contract or job is absolutely untrue,’’ said David Guarino, a spokesman for Roca.

After leaving Roca, Matthew McLaughlin was appointed to the Board of Appeals by Anne Collins, Kaprielian’s predecessor, at the request of the Patrick administration.

Collins was reluctant to make the appointment, a source said, because McLaughlin had a lengthy driving record that included a license suspension for refusing to take a breath test, six speeding tickets, and a citation for refusing to obey a police officer.

Matthew McLaughlin declined to comment.

Former Appeals Board co-workers said that he had boasted that Murray was his “godfather’’ and took advantage of his connections to spend a lot of time out of the office.

They said that he had posted on his Facebook page photos from Florida, indicating that he was there when he was supposed to be at work.

Matthew McLaughlin was also appointed by Patrick to the Tewksbury Housing Authority. The Patrick administration said recently that it would not extend his appointment to the unpaid position.

The Globe reported last month that Murray and Michael McLaughlin appeared to be close political allies, according to the elder McLaughlin’s cellphone records, which showed the two had called each other more than 80 times over the past seven months.

When the Globe began asking McLaughlin about his housing authority salary in preparation for an article, he would call the lieutenant governor within hours after each inquiry, according to the records.

Murray identified Michael McLaughlin only as a supporter and a volunteer and said he was outraged when he learned that McLaughlin was making $360,000 a year while reporting his income to state housing officials as only $160,000.

In a prepared statement at the time, Murray said he felt betrayed when he learned about McLaughlin’s salary, which may have been the highest of any US public housing official.

The lieutenant governor said that he agreed completely when Patrick demanded McLaughlin’s resignation, along with the board members who approved his pay.

“I support and am proud of our response to date,’’ Murray said at the time.

On the question of Matthew McLaughlin’s hiring, Murray said: “We make referrals on a day-to-day basis. I never tell anyone to put a square peg in a round hole. It’s up to the people making decisions to decide whether someone is qualified or not, and then, from there, are they doing their job.’’

Murray would not say specifically whether he helped Matthew McLaughlin get his job.

He said he had never heard that the younger McLaughlin referred to him as his “godfather.’’

The FBI and other state and federal agencies continue to investigate Michael McLaughlin and the housing authority amid charges that employees shredded and removed documents around the time he resigned in early November.

On his last day, McLaughlin cosigned checks worth more than $200,000 to himself for what he said he was owed in unused vacation, sick, and personal time.

Matthew McLaughlin went to college with James McNichols, the Chelsea Housing Authority accountant who approved the checks in the hours before the elder McLaughlin’s resignation took effect Nov. 3. McNichols, who is on paid administrative leave, also admitted shredding documents, including Michael McLaughlin’s time and attendance records.


In wake of scandal, SJC justice approves takeover of Chelsea Housing Authority
By Scott Allen and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A single justice of the state’s highest court has approved the state’s request to take over the Chelsea Housing Authority, which is in disarray amid a scandal over the $360,000 annual salary of the former executive director.

The court finds that “as a result of the recent resignations of all members of the governing board as well as the executive director of respondent Chelsea Housing Authority and in order to prevent the wasting of assets belonging to the Authority [the state] has demonstrated good grounds for the immediate appointment of a temporary receiver,” Supreme Judicial Court Justice Robert Cordy said in his order.

Cordy named Judith Weber, a private housing consultant, to serve as the receiver and report back to him in 90 days. In the meantime, Weber will be able to overrule local decisions and compel staff to cooperate with the burgeoning state and federal investigations into the authority and its former director, Michael E. McLaughlin.

Governor Deval Patrick asked for the court receivership for the authority after the Globe reported that McLaughlin had concealed his true salary from the state for years, reporting that he made $160,000 when he really made more than twice that amount. McLaughlin resigned at Patrick’s request on Nov. 3, but not before co-signing checks to himself for more than $200,000 in what he said was unused vacation, sick and personal time.

Employees have admitted shredding documents around the time McLaughlin quit, while the authority’s accountant has admitted destroying McLaughlin’s work records.

The entire board of directors also resigned, leaving the agency, which manages housing for 1,450 low-income families, with no leadership except for an acting administrator appointed by the board just days before the members resigned.

“Our office worked with the administration in an effort to appoint a temporary receiver with the goal of preventing the further abuse of taxpayer funds,” said Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office represented Patrick in court. “We are pleased that the court has agreed to this request.”

The attorney general, the FBI, and various other agencies are investigating potential misuses of federal and state funds at the authority.

Where's the Public Outrage? The Most Corrupt Administration in Recent History

With his sights on higher office, another book, Governor "Slot Barns" knee jerk reaction is defense, a cherubic smile and denial.

That ignores Lt. Governor Tim Murray's previous bad decision:
Buying a judgeship for $39,775?

And then there's that whole Secretary Bialecki casino stock investment scandal, papered over by Beacon Hill. And Senator Rosenberg aided that scandal.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Senator Anthony Petruccelli fueled the flames.

Surrounded by corruption or at the least QUESTIONABLE CONDUCT, are investigations called for? 'Course not!

The Gubernatorial Candidate who proclaimed transparency, an end to corruption and the "Big Dig Culture".....?

What a SCAM!

Sorry, Governor! Cherubic smiles and cute responses don't work!

It's time for some housecleaning, honest answers and an investigation.

Since you have conducted your own back room deals, secret meetings and made promises you don't intend to keep, in my book, you've flunked.

You've done more to stoke the flames of public cynicism than any of your Republican predecessors.

What else don't we know?

Murray tied to ex-Chelsea official
Lieutenant governor, housing chief called each other more than 80 times in 7 months
By Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick was so furious over the Chelsea Housing director’s extraordinary $360,000 salary that he called for Michael E. McLaughlin’s immediate resignation and launched a state takeover of the entire agency.

But Patrick’s second in command, Timothy P. Murray, has remained publicly silent about the alleged abuse of housing money for more than two weeks even though he has often advocated for public housing. McLaughlin once called him “the best friend public housing has ever had.’’

Now, it is becoming clear what a good friend Murray has been to McLaughlin: the two called each other more than 80 times over the last seven months, McLaughlin’s cellphone records show. When the Globe began asking McLaughlin about his true salary and why he told the state that it was only $160,000, McLaughlin called the lieutenant governor each time within hours, according to the phone records.

After the Globe printed his actual income on Oct. 30, McLaughlin told colleagues at the housing authority that he was in constant touch with Murray, assuring Murray that the controversy “was a two-day story’’ that would “blow over.’’ McLaughlin urged Murray to “stay out of it and not come to [his] aid,’’ said a person with direct knowledge who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation.

“He was adamant that Murray should stay out of it and that he could make it go away,’’ this person said.

But the controversy did not go away, and McLaughlin resigned on Nov. 3 under pressure from Patrick.

Murray declined to be interviewed about his relationship with McLaughlin, but he said in a prepared statement that the former Chelsea housing director was “a supporter’’ and said he felt betrayed when he learned about McLaughlin’s compensation, which may be the highest of any US public housing official.

“Mike McLaughlin was a supporter and volunteer during my campaign in 2006,’’ wrote Murray, referring to his first campaign for lieutenant governor. “Since then, I stayed in touch with him, as I do with many of the people who volunteered for me and with local officials across the state.

“Like most everyone else, I had no idea how high Mike McLaughlin’s salary was or that he was misleading the state about it for years, which is outrageous and unacceptable. When we discovered that, this administration took swift and decisive action. I support and am proud of our response to date, and we’re going to continue to investigate what happened at the Chelsea Housing Authority,’’ he wrote.

Murray said that he is “frustrated’’ on a “personal level’’ because of what he has learned about someone with whom he thought he had a “straightforward relationship.’’

The FBI and several other state and federal agencies are investigating McLaughlin and the housing authority amid allegations that employees shredded and removed documents around the time of McLaughlin’s resignation. On his last day, McLaughlin cosigned checks for more than $200,000 to himself for what he said were unused vacation, sick, and personal days - though the records that would confirm that have been destroyed.

McLaughlin almost immediately applied for a state pension that would be the largest in state history, based on his income. Yesterday, the Chelsea Retirement Board tabled discussion of McLaughlin’s application for a $278,000 pension after the attorney general warned the board that McLaughlin may not be entitled to the money.

McLaughlin was much more than just an ordinary supporter and volunteer for Murray, according to several Merrimack Valley politicians with direct knowledge of the relationship who asked not to be named because of fear of retaliation. He was a key operative in 2006 as Murray, then the mayor of Worcester, built a statewide organization, according to these people, and McLaughlin acted as master of ceremonies for Murray fund-raisers more than once.

“He’s the lieutenant governor’s guy in the Merrimack Valley,’’ said one political figure “Everyone knows that.’’

McLaughlin liked to brag to colleagues that “Murray needed him’’ for “putting together little deals’’ such as finding jobs for supporters, said a person who heard McLaughlin make those remarks but asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation.

McLaughlin was in touch on the phone with Murray more than anyone else, based on an analysis of 12 high-call-volume days when McLaughlin and Murray connected 41 times. McLaughlin typically was in contact with Murray three times a week over the seven months of the records, even calling Murray while McLaughlin was vacationing in Naples, Fla.

McLaughlin, his wife, and two children have donated $3,725 to Murray since 2006, though the Murray campaign late last night announced that they were returning some of the money.

A spokesman for Murray’s political committee said the $900 McLaughlin contributed to Murray was donated to the Chelsea Boys & Girls Club in light of McLaughlin’s “deception’’ in not revealing his actual compensation. Cohen said an additional $700 donated by two Chelsea Housing Authority board members was also sent to the club. Murray’s committee has kept the rest of the McLaughlin money.

Several sources said they believe Murray helped McLaughlin’s son Matthew obtain a $60,000-a-year job in 2008 as a member of the Board of Appeals, which hears appeals from drunk drivers who have lost their licenses - despite the concerns of the state Registrar of Motor Vehicles at the time, Anne Collins.

Collins worried about hiring Matthew McLaughlin because of his lengthy driving record that included a license suspension for refusing to take a breathalyzer and six speeding tickets, according to McLaughlin’s driving record and a source with direct knowledge of the appointment. But Collins felt she had no choice but to hire him, according to someone with knowledge of the appointment.

Matthew boasts that Murray is his “godfather,’’ according to former co-workers, and takes advantage of the connection to spend a lot of his time elsewhere. He has posted photos from Florida on his Facebook page when he was scheduled to hear some of the tens of thousands of cases before the Board of Appeals, the former co-workers said.

Frustrated officials complained directly to Murray, but McLaughlin’s work habits did not improve, said former co-workers.

Neither Michael McLaughlin nor his son, Matthew, returned calls from the Globe.

In a transcript from an interview with the Lowell Sun earlier this month, Murray said he knew Matthew McLaughlin, but would not say whether he recommended him to Collins.

“We get lots of people seeking jobs and referrals,’’ he said. “We referred it out and it’s up to whoever the hiring entity is to make the decision.’’

More generally, Murray campaign spokesman Michael Cohen denied that McLaughlin played a major role in Murray’s political operation.

Asked whether Murray was aware that McLaughlin has a long history of attracting controversy and investigations dating back to his days as a Middlesex County Commissioner in the 1980s, Murray campaign spokesman Cohen said: “We have had thousands of supporters and volunteers over the years. We don’t know the personal histories of them all.’’

McLaughlin’s cellphone records, obtained in a public information request, cover the period from March 29 to October 27 and do not cover the period after McLaughlin’s salary became public and his agency was engulfed in controversy. However, sources with direct knowledge of McLaughlin’s actions at the authority say that McLaughlin’s contacts with the lieutenant governor continued.

But Patrick administration spokesman Brendan Ryan said just because McLaughlin had contact with Murray doesn’t mean he found sympathy.

Murray “doesn’t like people taking advantage of his friendship,’’ said Ryan.

Matt Carroll of the Globe staff contributed to this report.


Patrick defends Murray on calls
By Sean P. Murphy and Glen Johnson

Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray today strongly denied that there was anything improper in his relationship with the former Chelsea Housing Authority director who resigned abruptly after the Globe revealed he was making $360,000 a year.

Murray and former Chelsea housing director Michael E. McLaughlin called each other 83 times during the past seven months, McLaughlin’s cellphone records show, including several calls after the Globe began asking questions about McLaughlin’s salary, which he had reported to the state was only $160,000.

Speaking before an annual ceremony to recognize police bravery at the State House, Murray and his boss, Governor Deval Patrick, insisted that Murray was only doing his job in talking to McLaughlin.

“Part of my portfolio is working with local officials - elected and appointed and others. I have dozens of phone calls on a day-to-day basis with lots of officials across the state including Mr. McLaughlin,” Murray explained.

Murray said he was outraged to learn McLaughlin’s true salary, which may be the highest for any public housing official in the United States.

McLaughlin “was a political supporter. As I said, he’s someone on housing issues that I would talk to from time to time, but I was not aware of the full extent of his contract, like everyone else, until that Globe article appeared on” Oct. 30, Murray told reporters. “He misled me. He misled other people. I’m disappointed. I’m frustrated, and I’m angry.”

McLaughlin resigned on Nov. 3 under pressure from Patrick, but not before co-signing checks to himself for more than $200,000 for what he said was unused vacation, sick, and personal time. However, the authority’s accountant has said he destroyed the payroll records that would have confirmed that McLaughlin was owed the money.

Now, the FBI has launched a criminal investigation into McLaughlin and the Chelsea Housing Authority, while Attorney General Martha Coakley is expected to petition a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on Monday to appoint an outside receiver to oversee management of the authority.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development plans to recommend Judy Weber, now a consultant on housing management issues, to serve as the Chelsea receiver. She previously worked for Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. She is a former aide to former Congressman J. Joseph Moakley.

McLaughlin’s conduct has inspired at least one legal reform already, a change in pension rules signed by Gov. Patrick yesterday. McLaughlin has applied for the biggest public pension in state history, $278,000, based on his actual compensation. Under the new law, a retiring employee’s pension would be based on the salary reported to the state – in McLaughlin’s case, $160,000 – penalizing public employees who attempt to conceal their true income.

In McLaughlin’s case, Coakley’s office has asked Chelsea retirement officials not to authorize any retirement payments to McLaughlin until the investigations are complete.

Records of McLaughlin’s housing authority cell phone, which cover the period from March 29 to October 27, show that the men called each other about three times a week, including while McLaughlin was in Naples, Fla., where he owns a condo. Several Merrimack Valley politicians said the frequency of the calls reflect the fact that McLaughlin is one of Murray’s main political operatives north of Boston.

The records show that, on two occasions, McLaughlin called Murray within hours of being asked questions by a Globe reporter about his salary and efforts to conceal the true amount from state officials. A Murray campaign operative has said the lieutenant governor made no further calls to McLaughlin after the Globe revealed his salary on Oct. 30.

Patrick stoutly defended his second in command, bristling when a reporter asked why the lieutenant governor would need to call a Chelsea housing official so frequently.

“Do you know how much phone tag we play around here?” Patrick asked. “We and in particular the lieutenant governor is in constant contact with local elected officials all around the Commonwealth. And let me tell you what I don’t like, what I don’t appreciate, is insinuation when there is nothing.”

At the statehouse press event, Murray also denied that he had done anything improper in helping McLaughlin’s son, Matthew McLaughlin, get a job as a member of the Registry of Motor Vehicles’ Board of Appeals, which hears appeals from drunk drivers who have lost their licenses.

Several sources told the Globe that Murray helped Matthew McLaughlin to obtain the $60,000-a-year job despite concerns about McLaughlin’s lengthy driving record, which included a license suspension for refusing to take a breathalyzer test.

Former co-workers of the younger McLaughlin said that he referred to Murray as his “godfather,” something the lieutenant governor said today that he had never heard before.

“We make referrals on a day-to-day basis,” said Murray, referring to the practice of recommending job candidates to other government agencies. “I never tell anyone to put a square peg in a round hole. It’s up to the people making decisions to decide whether someone is qualified or not and then, from there, are they doing their job?”

At one point during the four-minute discussion of Murray’s relationship with McLaughlin, Patrick put his hand on Murray’s shoulder, eased him out of the way, and stepped in front of the cameras and microphones to defend his second-in-command against against some of the criticisms in yesterday’s Globe.

The story included unnamed sources who said Murray continued to advise McLaughlin after the Globe revealed his true salary - and the governor had called for McLaughlin’s resignation, complaining he was “boiling” mad by the revelation.

“I do not believe in guilt by association,” said Patrick, growing animated. “This is a fabulous lieutenant governor who runs to work every day to do the best he can by the people of the Commonwealth. I am proud of him and I am proud to serve with him. And the Chelsea Housing Authority executive director who breached the public’s trust has some consequences - and he should.”

But Massachusetts Republicans said that Murray has some explaining to do, both about his relationship with McLaughlin and his serious car accident that occurred two days after the first Globe story on McLaughlin’s paycheck was published. Murray has said that his unmarked State Police cruiser rolled over at 5:30 a.m. after he hit a patch of ice while surveying damage from a fall snowstorm and fetching coffee and newspapers.

“There is a disturbing pattern here where the administration is doing everything they can to suppress information while at the same time claiming that they have nothing to hide,” said Nate Little, executive director of MassGOP. “It is time for Tim Murray to come clean about these lingering questions.”