Speaker DiMasi defends reputation in wake of probe

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi continued to defend his reputation this afternoon after refusing to comply with an Ethics Commission demand for his records, a move that has sparked a behind-the-scenes legal struggle with the commission's lawyers and questions among House lawmakers over whether he will remain as speaker.

“I am not hiding anything,” said DiMasi, emerging from a meeting with banking officials. “Absolutely not.”

DiMasi also reiterated his opposition to calling lawmakers back for an emergency formal session to deal with Governor Deval Patrick’s plan to close a $1.4 billion budget gap.

“I don’t think we should, no,” he said. “We just passed most of the governor’s plan.”

House and Senate lawmakers approved several large components of Patrick’s budget plan, but several other items remain.

The State House has been rocked in recent weeks by ethical scandals, capped by allegations that Senator Dianne Wilkerson was taking bribes, in one instance stuffing money in her sweater in a posh Beacon Hill restaurant.

DiMasi and three of his close friends and associates are the subjects of an Ethics Commission investigation as well as other investigations relating to large payments the associates received from a software company that won multimillion-dollar state contracts.

There has been growing unrest among lawmakers after the Globe reported last week that the speaker was refusing to cooperate with the Ethics Commission's conflict-of-interest investigation. DiMasi has been invoking a constitutional claim of legislative immunity in his refusal to cooperate.

Although he said he wasn’t hiding anything, DiMasi would not comment any further on the investigation.

“It’s going through that process,” he said. “The process should take its ordinary course. Other than that, I can’t say much more.”

In response to the rash of ethics and legal issues on Beacon Hill, the governor last week appointed a 12-member public integrity task force. He wants the group to make recommendations within 60 days to strengthen current laws. DiMasi did not criticize the effort today, but he also said he didn’t see the need.

“I think we have the toughest laws on ethics in the entire country,” DiMasi said. “We have comprehensive, in-depth laws in Massachusetts, and I think they work well.”

Several lawmakers have said privately that they are worried about voting for DiMasi as speaker in January.

State Representative David L. Flynn, the most senior member of the House, said on Friday that five colleagues had asked him to serve as interim speaker if DiMasi steps down as a result of the ethics controversies swirling around him.

If he were to ascend to the speakership, it would have a dramatic impact on the question of whether to install slot machines at the state's four racetracks, which he has advocated for years despite DiMasi’s opposition.

“Flynn supports me, he’s my good friend,” DiMasi said today. “Obviously it might have been a good way to get slot machines here.”

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