DiMasi denies role in Cognos contract

By Matt Viser and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi this afternoon denied having any role in awarding a controversial computer software contract that is now the subject of a federal investigation.

"I had absolutely nothing to do with the awarding of that contract," he said, following a news conference held to discuss plans for a federal stimulus package.

When asked if he had received a subpoena, he said, "No comment other than that," and then left the room.

The Globe reported today that federal authorities have convened a grand jury to investigate the state's awarding of a pair of multimillion-dollar contracts to a Burlington software company that, in turn, provided large and often secretive paydays to close associates of DiMasi as it was winning state work.

The US attorney in Boston has issued subpoenas over the past few weeks that include a request for documents from the state's Information Technology Division, which awarded a $13 million "performance management software" contract to Cognos ULC in August 2007, according to two officials briefed on the investigation.

The launch of the federal grand jury probe, confirmed by several lawyers in Boston, follows a series of stories in the Globe about the Cognos contracts. It significantly raises the stakes for DiMasi, who in recent weeks has sought to downplay the threat that the Cognos controversy poses. He has recently rededicated himself to public issues, particularly pushing for a gas tax over toll hikes, as he aggressively courts House members to reelect him to another two-year term as speaker next month.

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