Posted on 11/28/2002 6:17:53 AM PST by ninonitti
University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger was resisting efforts last night by a congressional committee to grill him about his notorious gangster brother, James J. ``Whitey'' Bulger.
The House Committee on Government Reform, which is probing FBI corruption in Massachusetts, yesterday announced plans to question Bulger about his brother's relationship with federal law enforcement at hearings next week in Boston.
But, according to a committee source, Bulger's lawyer, Thomas R. Kiley, called the panel and said the former Massachusetts Senate president had no intention of testifying, citing a scheduling conflict.
Kiley was told the committee would issue a subpoena to Bulger compelling him to appear, the source said. Kiley responded by requesting a copy of the House Rules, which explain the committee's powers to compel testimony.
Kiley did not return calls.
Whitey Bulger, a fugitive since 1995, is charged with murdering 20 people - most of them while serving as a ``top echelon'' FBI informant.
Bulger has said little publicly about his older brother's gangster activities or the fact that he was an informant for more than 15 years.
He mentioned him briefly in his 1997 autobiography, saying he firmly believes ``Jim'' left his criminal ways behind him when he was released from federal prison in the late 1960s for bank robbery. ``From everything I could see, he appeared to have taken enormous steps to separate himself from the environment that led to his early misbehavior,'' Bulger wrote. He also said the ``lurid allegations'' about his brother's organized crime activities were made to hurt his own political career.
``I am confident much of it has been circulated as an oblique political attack on me,'' he added. Bulger did testify before a federal grand jury in Boston last year and was reportedly questioned about any contact he may have had with his fugitive brother.
Bay State congressman Stephen Lynch, a South Boston neighbor of Bulger and a member of the committee chaired by U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, will attend the hearings.
``I have great respect for UMass president Bulger,'' Lynch said in a statement last night. ``He has had a long and distinguished career in public service. Whether or not president Bulger can assist in (the committee's) process remains unclear.''
Also scheduled to appear at the committee hearings on Dec. 5 and 6 at the McCormack Courthouse are former U.S. Attorneys Paul Markham and Jeremiah O'Sullivan, who led the Boston office in the 1960s and 1980s respectively.
James Wilson, chief counsel to the committee, said Markham has refused to attend, so the committee planned to send a federal marshal to his Waltham home with a subpoena. It is unclear if O'Sullivan, who did not return calls yesterday, will testify.
Markham led the U.S. Attorney's Office during the 1960s. O'Sullivan was the head of the New England Organized Crime Strike Force and U.S. attorney when the FBI used informants Bulger and Stephen ``The Rifleman'' Flemmi during the 1980s.
The Herald has reported that O'Sullivan took extraordinary steps to protect Bulger and Flemmi from prosecution at a time when he was acknowledging in private that the pair was responsible for numerous murders.
According to investigative reports from a private meeting in Boston in July 1982, O'Sullivan knew Bulger, Flemmi and one of their top lieutenants in the Winter Hill Gang, John Martorano, were prolific mob killers.
``O'Sullivan was very emphatic, stating that the Winter Hill Gang had pulled numerous hits,'' wrote one homicide detective after the meeting.
That meeting between O'Sullivan and detectives from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Oklahoma took place during a spate of gangland murders the federal government has since charged were carried out or ordered by Bulger and Flemmi.
One of those murders was the May 1981 slaying of business tycoon Roger Wheeler outside his Tulsa, Oklahoma, country club.
Two of the victim's sons, David and Lawrence Wheeler, are slated to testify next week. The Wheeler family has filed a $500 million lawsuit against the Justice Department, the FBI and individual law enforcement officials.
Another witness will be Tulsa police Det. Michael Huff, who was called to the scene when Wheeler was murdered more than 21 years ago and has doggedly pursued the case ever since.
Huff has been working on the Wheeler case with the Tulsa District Attorney's office, which is reportedly considering a murder indictment against former Boston FBI agent H. Paul Rico.
After he retired from the bureau, Rico went to work as head of security at World Jai Alai in Florida, a company that Wheeler later purchased. Martorano, who has admitted to gunning down Wheeler on the orders of Bulger and Flemmi, has said that Rico was the source of personal information on Wheeler which he used to ambush the business executive.
Since the incident, he has had a charmed legal career in Massachusetts.
Being dragged in by US Marshalls to testify before a Congressional Committee would be a fitting end to his career if disbarment followed.
Likewise it will nice to see the runt of the Bulger litter dangling his legs from the witness chair. For such a brillant "classical" scholar, the corrupt midget sure was fooled by his brother "Jim".
I wonder if he'll testify in Pig Latin and need a court interpreter
Jeremiah O'Sullivan's been faking heart trouble forever so I hope we get to see him in a wheelchair with an oxygen bottle like the mobsters in "Casino".
The signifigance of these hearings should not be underestimated because they are seeking information that would tie organized crime and the highest levels of state and federal government in Massachusetts together.
If the fish's head smells this bad can you imagine what the tail is like?
Time for the good citizens of Massachusetts to call in the Roto-rooter team to clean up this fecal mess with investigations, indictments, and tort reform.
Oh c'mon. It's not his fault. It's the fault of society. Poooolllleeeeeesssee!
He also said the ``lurid allegations'' about his brother's organized crime activities were made to hurt his own political career.
Oh. I see. It's all about his victimhood?
Gawwwd. Liberals are strange people! Please, someone slap that man back into reality!
Kennedys got their money running guns and liquer during the prohibition in the first place! They've been mobsters since the beginning!
Hell, just being Democrat politicians gives their crimminality away. Geezze.
oxymoron
THERE IS NO CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY!
And I don't care how many lace curtains they put on their windows to improve their social status, they are still Shanty Irish!
How much is there that you don't want to know about Federal screwups?
Allowing a a federal takeover of the ENTIRE judicial system would be a guaranteed way to make sure we will never find out about Oklahoma City and Flight 800.
What's the salary of a president of UMass?
oxymoron
Excuse me. Many, a great many, of us are more to be pitied than censured. There are a great many "good citizens of Massachusetts." Unfortunately, just not enough...
Probably true my friend but I was talking about Massachusetts not the entire country.
I don't use the lace curtain description.
I like the term "Two Toilet Irish" when referring to this social class or even better "They have butter at both ends of the table Irish".
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