Wilkerson says she was denied chance to respond before lawsuit

In her first public statement since being sued by the state attorney general for alleged campaign finance violations, state Senator Dianne Wilkerson promised to vigorously fight the allegations and said she was denied a fair opportunity to respond to the concerns before the suit was filed.

Wilkerson, flanked by more than two dozen black community leaders and ministers at a news conference at the Morning Star Baptist Church in Mattapan, said she understood that constituents and even her ''diehard supporters" might have concerns after hearing about the lawsuit. It accuses Wilkerson of numerous campaign finance violations from 2000 and 2001.

''The [attorney general] misrepresented facts and by doing so, caused serious damage to myself and my family," Wilkerson said. ''I will vigorously defend this claim and I am confident of the outcome."

The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and the head of the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, alleges that Wilkerson failed to report $26,935 in political donations and to explain $18,277 in payments she received from her political committee.

It also cites 29 ''unexplained reimbursements" in 2000 and 2001 totaling $20,264, including several hundred dollars paid to her son, Cornell Mills.

Corey Welford, a spokesman for Reilly, disputed Wilkerson's assertion that she was not given a chance to respond to the concerns before the lawsuit was brought. Wilkerson was contacted about the campaign finance problems four years ago through the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, Welford said. The attorney general's office has been requesting information from her since last November, he said.

''She has been given every opportunity to fully explain these discrepancies, but has repeatedly failed to do so," Welford said.

During her news conference, Wilkerson said she first learned of the concerns on July 29, when she received a letter sent from Reilly's office.

The substance of Reilly's complaint ''were issues that were not discussed, had never been seen, nor ever requested," she said.

''The facts and documents will bear this out," Wilkerson said. ''The time frame is significant because the most troubling aspect for so many of [my supporters] was the representation by the attorney general himself that I had five years to respond and I didn't."

The Boston Democrat -- who was first elected to the Senate in 1992 and was convicted on federal tax charges in 1997 -- also criticized what she called a media ''free-for-all" against her and members of her family since the lawsuit was filed.

''The past few weeks have taken a new and ugly turn that have forced me to break my silence," Wilkerson said. She cited a Boston Globe story that reported Daniel F. Conley, Suffolk district attorney, hired her son as a civilian investigator despite his lengthy record of arrests. The Globe story noted that her son was never convicted.

''I am asking all of you to back off my children, and my family," she said, looking at reporters.

Wilkerson also criticized a Boston Herald story about the campaign finance allegations that reported the attorney general's suit alleged she had spent $60 for a bra. Wilkerson said the receipt in question was for a restaurant called Brasserie Jo in the Colonnade Hotel.

''This has absolutely gone past ridiculous," she said.