The warped morality on Beacon Hill
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THIS IS WHAT passes for moral clarity on Beacon Hill.
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi is a liberal. So it matters less that he might also be a liar.
That was the thrust of a Globe op-ed by Fred Salvucci, a former state transportation secretary who is an expert on the subject of the importance of ideology. As father of the Big Dig, Salvucci is used to winning praise as a transportation visionary, and escaping blame for any of the project's flaws, at least partly because of his liberal politics.
Many legislators applied that rubric yesterday, as the House overwhelmingly reelected DiMasi as their leader. He supports gay marriage, universal healthcare, and the gas tax. He opposes casino gambling. Therefore, he should be speaker, even if he may be lying about friends who may be lying about cashing in on their friendship with him.
For others, it was just about backing the status quo. In the end, DiMasi won the support of 135 out of 160 representatives. Fourteen members - seven Republicans and seven Democrats - voted present. Another nine Republicans backed Representative Bradley H. Jones Jr., the minority leader. One Democrat, Representative William G. Greene Jr., voted for himself. One legislator was absent.
Afterward, they celebrated by accepting bear hugs from their embattled speaker. "You humble me with your trust," he told them.
DiMasi has not been charged with a crime. So far, he is merely the powerful link to a network of friends who appear to be benefiting from their connections to him. Some friends are under state and federal investigation; one friend, Richard Vitale, has been charged by the state attorney general with violations of ethics and campaign finance laws.
Those probes mean this morality play will not automatically end with DiMasi's reelection to a third term as leader of the House. Some fascinating political theater lies ahead, with several plot lines still under development. Among them:
What happens next week when Vitale is finally arraigned?
On Monday, a Suffolk Superior Court clerk magistrate delayed Vitale's arraignment for a week, and granted his lawyer's request to stop prosecutors from filing a statement of the case in court. That action ensured that House members could vote on DiMasi's reelection without knowing the details of his involvement with Vitale, who was paid $60,000 to represent the Massachusetts Association of Ticket Brokers; Vitale also gave DiMasi a $250,000 mortgage, which the speaker has since paid back. Will the clerk go along with the request of Vitale's lawyer to keep secret the details of communication between DiMasi and Vitale?
If that happens, what's the next step for Attorney General Martha Coakley?
When she indicted Vitale on ethics and campaign finance violations, she said that Vitale communicated directly with DiMasi about legislation sought by the ticket brokers. However, DiMasi has said he did not know Vitale represented the group and never spoke to him about the matter. Will Coakley try to increase the pressure on Vitale? If she does, will Vitale cut a deal to save himself?
How long will US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan remain in that post?
Sullivan's office is investigating a $13 million contract to
What will be the fate of Governor Deval Patrick's sweeping proposal to overhaul the state's ethics and lobbying laws?
That may be the easiest to predict. In response to Patrick's proposal, DiMasi said the state faces "serious challenges" from the budget to the transportation crisis. "The best way to maintain and build upon the public's trust is by tackling these problems directly," he said.
The speaker knows that political action, not personal morality, counts most on Beacon Hill.
Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@globe.com.
Correction: House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi spoke to a state official about the kind of software Cognos and others make, not about "Cognos software," as I wrote in Sunday's column.
