Main Massachusetts Republican lawmakers are becoming a member of the choir of requires Gov. Maura Healey to offer “full transparency” on the hiring of her cocaine-busted aide, who was beforehand charged in reference to a taking pictures.
Home Minority Chief Bradley Jones and Senate Minority Chief Bruce Tarr are demanding that Healey disclose the suggestions and assist that LaMar Cook dinner obtained earlier than being employed in 2023 as deputy director of the Western Massachusetts workplace in Springfield.
The North Studying and Gloucester Republicans are additionally calling for a “complete and thorough review” of vetting procedures inside the government department to determine and proper potential deficiencies within the hiring course of.
Jones and Tarr say Cook dinner’s drug and firearms prices are “troubling” and that they elevate “serious questions” across the effectiveness of the Healey administration’s vetting practices. Cook dinner was employed in 2023.
“These steps are essential to restoring the public’s trust and to help ensure that all future hires are held to the highest ethical standards,” the Republicans wrote in a letter to Healey on Wednesday.
State Police final week intercepted about 18 kilos of cocaine on the way in which to the Springfield State Workplace Constructing, the place Cook dinner labored within the governor’s workplace. A trooper posed as a UPS driver to ship the cocaine to the workplace.
Along with the Springfield cocaine cargo, authorities stated that they had seized about 46 kilos of cocaine throughout separate shipments through the investigation into Cook dinner.
Cook dinner has been deemed a hazard to the neighborhood and is being held with out bail on prices that he was trafficking 200 grams or extra of cocaine and unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition.
Within the wake of the bombshell arrest, reviews emerged that this wasn’t the primary time that Cook dinner had been arrested. Cook dinner, 45, was beforehand busted in reference to a taking pictures in Springfield as a 21-year-old in 2001.
“Any one of these charges would have been sufficient grounds for disqualifying Mr. Cook as a viable candidate for serving in a government position, yet he was hired anyway, despite your assertions that he ‘underwent a thorough background check,’ ” the Republicans wrote to Healey.
Cook dinner had been paid $96,564 this 12 months, in keeping with state payroll information. His annual wage was $115,968.
Jones and Tarr’s letter to Healey comes as Republican gubernatorial candidates are additionally calling on the governor to launch the total background examine for Cook dinner.
GOP candidates Brian Shortsleeve, Mike Kennealy and Mike Minogue are pushing for the governor’s workplace to launch all of the personnel recordsdata, efficiency evaluations and incident logs involving Cook dinner since his hiring. They’re additionally searching for an unbiased investigation.
The Herald has filed a public information request for Cook dinner’s background examine with the governor’s workplace and the State Police.
Healey, requested about what occurred concerning the Cook dinner case on GBH’s Boston Public Radio, stated, “We don’t know all the circumstances. The DA is investigating.”
“I will tell you this,” the governor stated throughout her Wednesday radio look. “This is one of our employees who works out of our Springfield office. I was shocked, and I was so angry. It’s a huge betrayal of trust … for those of us who work hard in government and the people of Springfield, frankly.”
“As soon as I learned of it,” she added, “he was terminated before he even was arraigned.”
