Tucked away at the bottom of this morning's Boston Globe article about Rep. John Rogers (D-Norwood) and his mysterious consulting fee is this bombshell:
As speculation mounts over DiMasi's future, Rogers has been laying the groundwork for what many on Beacon Hill believe will be a succession fight. His major rival is Representative Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat.Speculation mounts? Okay, I know that I haven't been quite as plugged-in of late, but this is the first I've heard that House Speaker Sal DiMasi's "future" was in doubt. The only stories about DiMasi that have been in the news lately have been of the "Sal is the one true power on Beacon Hill" type and not the "will he stay or will he go" type -- the latter which preceded former Senate President Robert Travaglini's departure from the statehouse. Does anyone know anything about this? Is he destined to go off and join Trav, hand in hand, in the land of high-paid lobbyists?
As far as Majority Leader Rogers goes, there seem to me to be only three reasons he would not let the Globe see the records of the consultant (and friend and business partner) he paid nearly $200K over the past few election cycles. Either there's something fishy going on that he doesn't want us to see, the records don't actually exist, or he doesn't think that the public has a right to know how he's spending his campaign contributions and he doesn't want to set a precedent. None of those explanations make Rogers look very good.
Update: Ryan does the smart thing and asks Frank Phillips about his story's last sentence. Phillips says there's "no evidence that DiMasi is actively looking to leave."
|