Deval Patrick aides may be questioned in probe

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2015/06/deval_patrick_aides_may_be_questioned_in_probe

Deval Patrick aides may be questioned in probe
Joe Battenfeld, Matt Stout
June 12, 2015

Close aides to former Gov. Deval Patrick could be forced to testify in a growing legislative investigation into Herald disclosures that his administration stockpiled millions of dollars in secret funds to pay for his trade missions, tourism grants and other spending.

“As is my practice in all investigations, we will always go where the evidence takes us,” Rep. David Linsky, chairman of the House Post Audit Committee, told the Herald in an interview.

Linsky confirmed for the first time his panel is already gathering documents and preparing to interview former state officials in the wake of a Herald investigation revealing off-the-books trusts funded by $37 million in contributions from quasi-public agencies, including Massport, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.

Documents obtained by the Herald show that the requests for the agencies to fork over millions of dollars every year to the trusts came directly from Patrick’s budget office, which could be a central focus of the legislative probe.