Editorial –

Vitriolic Dan Burton Shows Partisanship
In Probe of UMass President Bill Bulger

In a recent story on the Congressional hearings involving University of Massachusetts President William Bulger, The Bradley Report pointed out that when the U.S. House of Representatives, through a GOP dominated and controlled  sub-committee, gave Mr. Bulger immunity from prosecution, it was not a gift, but was instead a trap. That it was indeed a trap and that the GOP had political motives has now been proven out.

Once immunity is provided, whether sought or not, the individual can be subpoenaed before Congress and anything said under oath can be scrutinized for the slightest discrepancy, since it is assumed that the person testifying no longer has any reason to withhold information, and if he or she appears to do so, there will be a reason to prosecute the individual. 

Of course this is a Catch 22 if the person did not ask for immunity, but had it conferred by Congress, since he or she must now answer questions that are often hostile without recourse to the 5^th Amendment. This allows Congressional inquisitors to assume the role of prosecutors, where the intent is to elicit damaging information, and if no such information can be derived from the witness, it leaves the inquisitors with several powerful options. They can seek to find evidence to contradict the testimony, or show that the testimony was incomplete, and then can prosecute accordingly, plus they are free to win a public relations triumph by expressing frustration at the witness for being reticent, thereby tarring the individual by assumption if it proves impossible to do so with facts.

That this was the intention of the GOP was made abundantly clear in early July when Dan Burton, a Republican congressman from Indiana, announced his personal belief that Mr. Bulger had lied during the hearings.* Mr. Burton has no proof that Mr. Bulger lied, but he is able to smear Mr. Bulger in headlines, and at the same time call for the committee’s chief counsel to begin an investigation.

There is much that appears questionable about the history of the Bulger brothers, one of whom - Democrat William Bulger -  was in a position of great power in the Massachusetts  government and the other - gangster 'Whitey' Bulger - who was one of the state’s most infamous gangsters. But the GOP’s heavy-handed approach seems clearly to have little to do with a search for justice in determining whether political power was misused to protect an infamous outlaw, and much to do with the Republicans continual effort to smash the Democratic Party.

It is important to remember that Rep. Burton was one of the most vitriolic of the GOP’s Clinton haters, and was a key figure in the attempt to impeach Mr. Clinton. This investigation of Mr. Bulger is severely tainted by partisan politics, and should not be seen as anything other than what it is; i.e., a further attempt by the political party in power to damage or destroy its only serious rival, the Democratic Party.

* The Boston Globe, July 2, 2003