Leslie Kirwan, former secretary of administration and finance, will testify that DiMasi seemed "intensely interested" in rigged software deal.
An updated version of this story is now available at MassLive.
Former Massachusetts Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi is seen at a meeting of the editorial board of The Republican in 2008.By Kyle Cheney
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick's former top budget aide will testify this week that in 2007, as Patrick was acclimating himself to the Corner Office, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi was exerting influence on administration officials considering a $13 million deal for Cognos Corp., prosecutors asserted Monday.
Leslie Kirwan, who as secretary of administration and finance had final say on most statewide contracts, will testify that DiMasi seemed "intensely interested" in the Cognos deal and that when she approved the contract in August 2007 she hoped it would buy good will for the administration, according to a Monday court filing issued by prosecutors.
According to the filing, Kirwan's testimony will center on an email she delivered to a deputy on the same day she signed the Cognos deal. In the email, with the subject line "Finally," Kirwan said she hoped "the big guy down the hall is happy and we get some credit for the next 'stick.'"
"Kirwan's email is highly relevant in showing that as the final decision-maker in signing the Cognos contract, she was keenly aware of DiMasi's specific interest in seeing it done," wrote Theodore Merritt, a government attorney in the trial.
Kirwan was Patrick's top finance official from 2007 to 2009, when she departed in October for a post at Harvard University. According to the filing, Kirwan testified before a grand jury in March 2009. DiMasi was indicted in June that year.
Merritt argued that her testimony will show that DiMasi did more than simply ensure the $13 million deal made it through the Legislature - as they asserted during the first two weeks of witness testimony, when two former lawmakers and a high-level House aide took the stand. Rather, he wrote, it will show that DiMasi made "several personal contacts" with Kirwan, which he said indicate "that the official actions he took after the passage of the [legislation], did, in fact, advance the interests of Cognos and his coconspirators."
DiMasi is charged with rigging a pair of taxpayer-funded contracts for Cognos in 2006 and 2007 in exchange for kickbacks. He is facing a count of conspiracy, three counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud and a count of extortion. Lobbyist Richard McDonough and accountant Richard Vitale, two longtime friends of DiMasi, are codefendants on all but the extortion charge. Their trial is in its fourth week and is expected to last well into June.
Lawyers for the defendants are asking Judge Mark Wolf to exclude Kirwan's email from evidence. As of early Tuesday morning, a rebuttal by defense attorneys had yet to be filed publicly. Lawyers for DiMasi and his codefendants have argued that DiMasi sought the type of software offered by Cognos - a performance management application - in a high-minded attempt to improve the functionality of state government and empower legislators to make informed policy decisions.
In addition, during previous witness testimony, DiMasi's lawyer Thomas Kiley pointed out that in his efforts to keep track of the software deal, DiMasi never pushed lower-level administration officials to specifically support Cognos, despite several known competitors for the contract.
Merritt, in his filing, contended that Kirwan's email is essential to proving that DiMasi pressured the Patrick administration to sign the contract, "an important disputed factor in the case."
"In this case, not only is it relevant in showing how DiMasi's official actions contributed to signing of the Cognos contract and the degree of influence he exerted on the decision maker," Merritt wrote, "it is probative in rebutting the defendants' arguments and evidence - first highlighted in their opening statements - that it was the Administration's decision to execute the Cognos contract and therefore DiMasi did not, and could not, take any official action to benefit Cognos in return for payments and kickbacks."
Merritt contended that Kirwan, "as the recipient of DiMasi's behind-the-scenes influence to get the contract signed, is somewhat comparable to the victim of extortion" and that her "state of mind" - whether she felt pressured to approve the Cognos deal - would be "at the center of the case."
According to prosecutors, Kirwan's suggestion that she hoped the speaker gave her credit for "the next 'stick'" was a reference to a dispute between the administration and DiMasi over where to site a Springfield data center. DiMasi had sought to place it at the Springfield Technical Community College, also known as STCC - pronounced 'stick' - while others pushed for a high school location.
In their indictment, prosecutors described repeated efforts by DiMasi to discuss "performance management software" - an application of the type offered by Cognos - with Kirwan. Bethann Pepoli, the acting head of the state IT department at the time the Cognos deal was pending, testified Monday that she recommended that Kirwan approve a $15 million contract for performance management software, in part because of DiMasi's influence.
Kirwan is one of a handful of Patrick administration officials to testify in the three-week- old trial. Patrick himself is slated to testify later this week or next. David Simas, Patrick's former deputy chief of staff who now advises President Barack Obama, is expected to testify Tuesday, and prosecutors say they expect to call David Morales, who held various high-level positions under Gov. Patrick, including deputy chief of staff and commissioner of health care finance and policy.