May 15, 2008 1:35 pm US/Eastern
DiMasi Friend Retires Amid Ethics Complaints
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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House Speaker Sal DiMasi (File Image)
WBZ
It's been a tough few weeks for Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi.
Opponents are lining up to question his ethics and personal relationships.
Now, one of his friends, Richard Vitale, at the center of the controversy has suddenly left his job.
On Wednesday, Vitale resigned from his 30-year job at a Charlestown accounting firm. DiMasi tells WBZ it's unfair if in fact his friend and former accountant was forced to step down, but the timing of Richard Vitale's retirement was even questionable to the speaker. "Doesn't the timing seem suspect? A little coincidental?" asked WBZ's Kate Merrill.
"Coincidental, yes. But I didn't know anything about that relationship and the conditions of how he engaged in his retirement."
Vitale retired from his accounting firm as controversy surrounds both he and DiMasi regarding Vitale's lobbying, and a loan he gave the speaker. DiMasi says its seems like dirty politics to him. "In this business, when you make very difficult principal stands on certain issues, people get angry and you make enemies," said DiMasi. "And sometimes those enemies can do something to you that sometimes I can't even imagine they could."
Vitale's company tells the Boston Globe this was a planned retirement, but the paper cites a source that claims Vitale was about to be fired to avoid the cloud of controversy surrounding him.
Either way, it's another twist in the saga surrounding the speaker.
The state Republican Party has filed a complaint with the state ethics commission, which has launched a probe into the speaker's actions. The speaker denies any wrongdoing.
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