THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE paid $262,000 to a Boston law firm in 2013 and 2014 for work on ethics investigations. House officials are declining further comment on how the money was spent, but the timing of the payments suggests most of the money went for an investigation of former Rep. John Fresolo of Worcester.
The House Ethics Committee held hearings on two lawmakers in 2013 and 2014. The investigation of Fresolo occurred in 2013 and resulted in his resignation in May 2013. The following year he made plans to run for his old seat, but then, apparently after some pressure from Beacon Hill, asked state officials to take his name off the ballot in April 2014. The Ethics Committee also held hearings on Rep. Carlos Henriquez after he was convicted of assault and battery charges in January 2014. Henriquez was expelled from the House a month later.
According to the state’s Open Checkbook website, the law firm of Fish & Richardson was paid $242,079 in August 2013, $18,722 in February 2014, and $1,290 in May 2014. All of the payments were made from the House Operations account.
Thomas Frongillo, an attorney at Fish & Richardson, represented the Legislature in its dealings with the US Attorney’s office in connection with last summer’s Probation corruption trial. Frongillo said in an email that he did the Probation work pro bono and that the payments in 2013 and 2014 were for another matter.
Seth Gitell, a spokesman for House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who initiated both ethics investigations, confirmed the payments to Fish & Richardson had nothing to do with Probation. “The payments in 2013 to Attorney Frongillo were for legal services provided to the House Committee on Ethics that were completely unrelated to the Probation investigation,” Gitell said in an emailed statement. “Pursuant to House Rule 16, proceedings before the House Committee on Ethics are confidential, and we are therefore not permitted to discuss the specifics of this matter.”
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who headed the House Committee on Ethics at the time of the Fresolo investigation, declined comment through a spokeswoman. (He later hired Frongillo himself to represent Boston in its numerous disputes with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.)
While the House hasn’t commented on the nature of the Fresolo investigation, the void has been filled by speculation in the media. Initially, news reports suggested the focus of the investigation was on per diem payments collected by Fresolo reimbursing him for his travel to and from the State House. But later reports indicated the investigation focused on sexually explicit photos of the representative that ended up on his State House computer and were reported by a female staffer.
Rep. Bradley Jones, who leads the Republicans in the House, said $262,000 is a lot of money but he had no reason to think any money was spent unwisely. Jones said it was his understanding that the Fresolo hearings were lengthy and complex and amounted to almost a prosecution. “There were potentially other issues that could have gone beyond the House,” Jones said.
By contrast, the hearings involving Henriquez were held only after he was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend and involved mostly reviewing trial transcripts. The case ended with Henriquez being expelled from the House after he was allowed to return to Beacon Hill in shackles and speak in his own defense.
Frongillo’s role in the House ethics investigations and his firm’s large billings follow on the heels of his pro bono work for the Legislature on the federal Probation prosecution. The earlier pro bono work for the Legislature drew the scorn of then-Boston Globe columnist and now Globe editor Brian McGrory back in 2010, when it was first revealed. McGrory’s take: “What’s going on here is a disgrace. First off, both House and Senate have their own legal departments paid to handle these kinds of issues. If members want something more, they can pay for it themselves. Beyond that, the leadership of the Legislature is accepting a favor that the average Jill or Joe would never see come their way, a thousand-dollar-an-hour lawyer dropped into its lap.”
McGrory also wondered if the Legislature might some day return the favor provided by Frongillo by helping out one of his clients. “What has this Legislature ever done to make anyone think it wouldn’t pull strings or mess with budgets on behalf of a guy who helped keep them out of jail?” he asked.
There’s no evidence the Legislature pulled any strings to help a paying client of Frongillo; instead, the House became one of his paying clients.
