A federal wiretap that reportedly recorded Mayor Martin J. Walsh when he was head of the Boston Building Trades pressuring a developer to use union labor is part of a broader probe that, according to Walsh's spokeswoman, "has little to do with the Walsh Administration."
In a statement to the Herald this morning, Walsh spokeswoman Laura Oggeri addressed a report published in The Boston Globe today that says Walsh and City Hall have been roped into a federal investigation of union strong-arming tactics, and that Walsh was recorded threatening a developer's ability to get Boston permits in 2012, when he was a state rep.
"Prior to running for Mayor, Marty Walsh spent a little over two years working for the building trades advocating on behalf of working men and women in and around Boston," the statement said. "He is confident that he always acted ethically and appropriately in that role. Whatever broad review of labors activities that may be going on, it has little to do with the Walsh Administration. The Mayor will continue to make the necessary reforms in Boston to guarantee an open and inclusive development process."
Walsh has for months denied any knowledge of the probe.
Rumors have persisted that Walsh and his administration have been part of a grand jury investigation. The Herald has repeatedly asked Walsh over the past year if he or City Hall staff have received any subpoenas or if he's been wiretapped.
"I'm not aware of any subpoenas coming to City Hall or anything like that," Walsh told the Herald on Oct. 6, 2015. "I have no idea what you're talking about and no further comment on that."
The Herald again made inquiries last week, to which Walsh's office said the mayor had not been contacted by the federal government related to any union probe and had no knowledge he was the focus of any investigation.
The Globe reported today that Walsh was recorded in 2012 on a wiretap telling a developer he would have trouble getting a high-rise building in Boston approved if he didn't use union labor on a project in Somerville.
The union probe Walsh was recorded in appears to be separate from indictments of local Teamsters last year for heckling a non-union crew on the set of the television show "Top Chef."
The Teamsters indictments did reference a city employee, identified later as Walsh's tourism director Kenneth Brissette, as having given a heads-up to two potential Top Chef venues that were going to be picketed for agreeing to host the show. The venues later pulled out.
Citing people familiar with the investigation, the Globe reported today that Walsh was recorded in Oct. 2012 speaking with Anthony Perrone of the Laborers Local 22 in Malden, saying he'd told developer AvalonBay Communities that a proposed Stuart Street project would be held up at the Boston zoning board unless the company used union workers at its housing project at Somerville's Assembly Row.
The paper also reported a Boston developer, Michael Rauseo, received a subpoena in the investigation and had a meeting with Walsh about using union labor in late 2012, in which Walsh demanded he rescind awards to non-union contractors.
(c)2016 the Boston Herald
