Free Republic

Attorney General Tom Reilly is seeking a special grand jury to grill more than a dozen key witnesses in the Big Dig manslaughter probe, moving swiftly after documents revealed widespread knowledge of ceiling problems in the tunnel where Milena Del Valle was killed, a law enforcment source said. The grand jury, expected to be convened Oct. 3, will hear evidence for six months as investigators seek criminal indictments against officials involved in construction of the I-90 Seaport Connector Tunnel. Several key officials have already retained lawyers, the source said. “Nothing we have seen to date takes us off the path...

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said yesterday it is not his responsibility to crack down on Massachusetts employers that hire undocumented immigrants, and he said he will continue his policy of taking no action against the companies. In 2001, Reilly established a policy, saying his office would aggressively fight for the rights and wages of immigrant workers, legal or not, and promise not to report them to federal authorities. He also said he would enforce wage and labor laws against companies, but not act against them for employing undocumented immigrants. Yesterday he stood by that, even as a Globe story...

--The state Democratic party is tapping U.S. Sen. John Kerry's brother, Cameron Kerry, to co-chair a committee designed to help them win the one race that has eluded them for more than a decade: the governor's office Cameron Kerry, an attorney with the politically connected law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, will co-chair the Massachusetts Victory '06 Coordinated Campaign with attorney Katherine Clark, a former Democratic candidate for state Senate. Tracey Lewis, deputy director for John Kerry's leadership committee, Keeping America's Promise, has been named the committee's campaign manager. Cameron Kerry served as an adviser and confidant...

Massachusetts' attorney general is demanding that contractors refund $108 million for poor work on Boston's "Big Dig," which is the biggest public works project in U.S. history and has been plagued by leaks and delays. Attorney General Tom Reilly's office plans to sue Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and other companies if the two sides do not reach an agreement over some 200 complaints of shoddy work in putting a major highway running through downtown Boston underground... Costs for building the 7.8 mile underground roadway through Boston ballooned from under $3 billion to the current $14.6 billion.

This governor’s race is turning into the political version of “American Idol.” There are differences, of course - the interest level, for starters. A lot of people actually care who wins “American Idol.” And in the local version, the contestants don’t parlay their victory into millions of dollars. In the Beacon Hill version, you pay millions of dollars, and maybe you win. Our first contestant this morning is Lt. Gov. Kerry “Muffy” Healey. She’s all bent out of shape that Christy Mihos has decided to run as an independent. Apparently, Muffy hasn’t figured out she’s got a much bigger problem...

In caucus, leads Reilly almost 2-1. In his first test as a candidate for governor, political newcomer Deval Patrick scored a sweeping victory at Democratic caucuses yesterday, trouncing Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, a two-term statewide office holder. Delegate slates pledged to Patrick, the former top federal civil rights prosecutor and business executive, rolled up margins at local party meetings that will give him close to a 2-to-1 advantage over Reilly in the count of committed delegates, according to several Democratic Party strategists around the state.

Unfortunately, Tom Reilly was explaining yesterday, there were “some issues.” Marie St. Fleur? Well, “this particular person” is “a wonderful person, an absolutely wonderful person.” As for Chris Gabrieli? “A wonderful, wonderful person.” But when it comes to politics, well, unfortunately, that’s not my strong suit. Then he said it again, that politics wasn’t his strong suit, and seconds later he circled back around it yet again. “Clearly,” he said, “it’s not my strong suit.” Strong suit? He’s got no suit at all. The AG has no clothes. Unfortunately, unfortunately, unfortunately . . . Most unfortunately of all, at least...

State Representative Marie P. St. Fleur, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly's choice to be his lieutenant governor running mate, has had three delinquent tax debts in the last four years, including an April 2005 federal tax lien of $12,711 against her and her husband, according to records examined yesterday by the Globe. (snip) Reilly, St. Fleur said, first approached her Saturday about being his running mate and offered her the spot on Sunday. She said she told Reilly that she had ''some financial issues" with taxes and student loans, but that he didn't ask her to provide any numbers and...

Attorney General Tom Reilly has a nickname in political circles - ``Unfortunately.'' It's because the would-be governor's investigations always begin with great fanfare. But months later the probes invariably peter out, not with a bang, but a whimper, as T.S. Eliot would say. And the end is always the same: a press release that begins with words to the effect of ``Unfortunately . . .'' Tom Reilly. He isn't the state's top cop, he just plays one on TV. But with all his media attention this week, it's time to answer some of the most-often asked questions about the Inspector...

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly -- gun grabber par excellance' and top socialist weasle -- has just been shown the gratitude of the Lunatic Left he has championed. Not! On TV just now we saw Reilly squirming like an 8-year-old in wool suit in church on Sunday when the bright lights of TV caught up to him and, for once, he didn't want to say anything. He said that his reading of the SJC decision is that MA may alow gay civil unions, but not gay marriages. He looked like he had just found a cockroach in his $ 6.50...

UMass President William M. Bulger failed to help his shaky political standing during a daylong grilling yesterday, with Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly accusing him of deliberately thwarting a congressional panel probing FBI corruption. Reilly, a Democrat who is leading the call for Bulger's immediate resignation, charged the University of Massachusetts president with giving ``evasive'' answers and said he had ``no interest in helping that committee . . . find the truth.'' ``Clearly he was not forthcoming; he was evasive, he had a convenient memory,'' Reilly said at a press conference minutes after Bulger's testimony in Washington concluded. ``He knew...