Galvin seeks details on Vitale
Secretary of State William F. Galvin asked Richard D. Vitale's lawyer yesterday to explain why Vitale reported receiving no lobbying income from the Massachusetts Association of Ticket Brokers when the group reported paying him at least $60,000.
The discrepancy is part of a controversy over whether Vitale, a friend of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi's, worked as an unregistered lobbyist in 2007 after lending DiMasi $250,000 in a third mortgage on DiMasi's home in 2006.
"These serious discrepancies require your immediate attention, and failure to do so may result in further enforcement efforts," wrote Alan Cote, director of the Public Records Division of the secretary of state's office, to Vitale's lawyer, Richard Egbert.
Last week, the Ticket Brokers Association reported employing Vitale's firm WN Advisors LLC in 2007 and 2008. The group said that in 2007 it paid $60,000 to WN Advisors, with lobbyists Vitale and attorney John T. McLaughlin. It is not clear whether the group paid WN Advisors additional amounts in 2008, because lobbying reports are not due until next month.
"It's been pretty clear; we've got some discrepancies," Galvin said. "We're going to move on to the next level. We now have evidence that at least $60,000 was expended to influence public policy, and we need to know what the parties were hired to do. The record has to be complete."
Vitale spokesman George Regan said: "We have great respect for Secretary of State Galvin, and obviously we've been trying to supply whatever information he needs and will continue to do so. It's the full focus of our attention to satisfy his needs."
Regan has denied that Vitale did any lobbying, saying he acted as a business strategist for the group.
A bill that would remove any price caps on the resale of tickets passed the House last fall, but has been bottled up since then in the Senate.
Andrea Estes can be reached at estes@globe.com.
