Former House speaker Thomas M. Finneran has been given immunity to testify in the grand jury investigation of the scandal-plagued state Probation Department, say two people briefed on Finneran’s arrangement with federal prosecutors.
While speaker, Finneran oversaw the transfer of power to hire probation officers from the judiciary to John J. O’Brien, a protege and jogging partner who was then probation commissioner. O’Brien used that power to devise a rigged and fraudulent hiring process, say prosecutors and Paul F. Ware, the independent counsel hired by the Supreme Judicial Court to investigate the Probation Department.
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Giving Finneran immunity may or may not be a smart move. He lied to the public for years without being apprehended: his ability to do so again (with or without immunity) is not much in question.
As regards motivation, he'll still feel quite entitled to thumb his nose at any legal or ethical standards if it means his potential lobbying targets "owe him one" for "not remembering" their violations of the law.
It would not be at all surprising to find his testimony wrongly shutting down avenues of investigation that would otherwise remain open.
It's a little more complicated than that. If he has immunity he can't plead the Fifth Amendment, he has to testify or go to jail for contempt of court. If he testifies but perjures himself, he goes to the can, and since he's a repeat offender, and since the prosecutors are embarrassed that he skated the last time, he does serious time. He's not a fool, I would think he will weigh his options and sing like a canary. I would, in his position.
I very much understand he has a prior felony conviction and has been disbarred. And I have a rudimentary knowledge of what immunity means.
However, much of what the "Speaker" can be expected to talk about may well involve difficult-to-confirm information about conversations or referrals on particular dates. In instances where he knows there is no corroborating paper trail or possible audio record, I would be astonished if he didn't sometimes experience selective memory loss of the same sort that Billy Bulger had in front of Dan Burton's Senate committee a few years ago.
Finneran is a very intelligent, eloquent, and ruthless man who is highly committed to his own self interest. During the trial over redistricting when he perjured himself, he was in "Seriously, you can't be after me over this?" mode. This time, he understands that he has to be careful not to implicate himself or the people he's lobbying if he wants his gravy train to continue.
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The saying goes that you can tell a politician is lying by watching his lips move. Finneran, an attorney, lied at his own trial - so - what makes anyone think he can have a conversation without lying.
O'B, be smart, the feds don't care about you. Trade up and skate