Reilly denies knowledge of attack plan
Says he didn't know his staff targeted Patrick
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said yesterday that he had no prior knowledge of a plan by several of his top staff members to help a labor leader's campaign to draw critical attention to Deval Patrick's corporate background.
Still, Reilly said Beverly native Ray Rogers raised valid questions about Patrick's corporate past, and he called on Patrick to publicly discuss his work as a former executive for
Rogers is the founder of the New York-based Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, a group that seeks to combat what it calls the corporate sins and human rights abuses of the Coca-Cola Co., for which Patrick served as corporate counsel from 2001-2004.
Last week, Globe op-ed columnist Joan Vennochi reported that e-mails had circulated showing some of Reilly's campaign advisers had discussed how to ``map out shadow plans for our friend at Killer Coke."
``I did not know anything about that," Reilly said yesterday evening after a campaign stop in Taunton.
Reilly, who like Patrick is a Democratic candidate for governor, said he did not have a relationship with Rogers and only learned of his staff's e-mail exchanges when Vennochi called him for comment before her column was published.
Reilly would not comment about his staff's involvement in media coverage of Killer Coke.
``We should know what really happened," he said. ``That gentleman was asking fair questions."
Patrick's campaign pointed yesterday to a campaign finance complaint filed by labor unions against Killer Coke this month.
``The questions that really need to be answered are those related to the tactics of Ray Rogers," wrote Richard Chacon, Patrick's spokesman, in a statement. ``It's surprising to see the attorney general's campaign condone these kinds of tactics. This is exactly the kind of politics as usual that people are tired of and that Deval Patrick is running against."
Reilly also called yesterday for Patrick to release his tax returns to the public, a frequent rallying cry for the Reilly campaign.
``This is the danger with candidates that come from the private sector," he said. ``People know everything about me."
