Massachusetts House Speaker Says Calls For Cape Cod Rep To Resign 'A Bit Premature'

The top Massachusetts House Democrat said Wednesday he has "no opinion" early in the judicial process on whether a state representative facing federal fraud charges should resign, and called support elsewhere for that action "a bit premature.".House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy) told reporters he plans to wait for the federal case against state Representative Christopher Flanagan (D-Dennis) to unfold before weighing in on whether the second-term rep can continue to hold office."He's the one who has to decide. He got elected, he put his name on the ballot and ran. Now he's going to look at what he's going through and whether or not he can effectively be the representative he claimed he would be," Mariano said.Asked what he personally thinks about the Flanagan situation, Mariano replied, "I have no opinion on it. I'm waiting for [him] to be convicted so I know that he's guilty."Flanagan was arrested Friday, April 11, and charged with defrauding his former employer, the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod, of $36,000 that prosecutors say he used on personal and political expenses. Prosecutors also say he falsified campaign finance records. He pleaded not guilty to five counts of wire fraud and one count of falsification of records.Governor Maura Healey quickly called for Flanagan to resign, as did Democratic state senators Julian Cyr (D-Truro) and Dylan Fernandes (D-Woods Hole), House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading), and the Massachusetts Republican Party."I think it is premature," Mariano said about those messages. "I think some of the senators that jumped on it [were] a bit premature. Everyone deserves a trial."As he walked away from reporters, Mariano added, "Look at what's going on in Washington, people getting picked up and taken for no reason."The House Committee on Ethics, newly chaired this term by state Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian (D-Melrose), announced Monday, April 14 that it will begin an investigation into Flanagan once the federal legal process concludes."That said, consistent with past practices, the Committee will wait for the judicial process to play out to avoid any possible disruption or obstruction to the ongoing criminal proceedings. The Committee will conduct an investigation into Rep. Flanagan at the conclusion of the judicial proceedings," Lipper-Garabedian told State House News Service.Mariano and House Ways and Means Committee chairman Aaron Michlewitz (D-North End), who similarly suggested the decision over resigning rests solely with Flanagan, said there's precedent for the House Committee on Ethics to wait to begin its own work.They pointed to the case of Carlos Henriquez (D-Dorchester), a then-state representative who was convicted January 15, 2014 of assault and battery charges against a woman he had been dating. The House Ethics Committee voted several weeks later to recommend Henriquez's expulsion from the Legislature, and the House expelled the rep on February 6, 2014."We waited until after his conviction before we opened up the ethics investigation," Michlewitz said of Henriquez.Mariano added, "The Ethics Committee is not an investigative group. They don't have agents to send out and investigate and collect evidence and make a decision."In 2020, prosecutors indicted then-state representative David Nangle (D-Lowell) on fraud charges. Nangle -- who previously led the House Committee on Ethics -- stepped down from his position in then-Speaker Robert DeLeo's leadership team, but did not resign from the House. He lost his primary re-election bid seven months later, and pleaded guilty the following year.

Massachusetts House Speaker Says Calls For Cape Cod Rep To Resign 'A Bit Premature'

Related Stories