Marty Walsh and the Wiretap: Everything You Need to Know

Boston, MA - Here's what you need to know about the federal wiretap involving Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, a throwback to the halcyon days when labor had the run of Boston's City Hall (or... not so much).

The probe. Multiple outlets report the Walsh wiretap is part of a broad, federal probe into whether unions are pressuring developers. Walsh has speculated he was caught up in the net as feds "fish" for information.

The accusation. As first reported by The Boston Globe, Walsh, then president of Boston Building Trades, was heard on a wiretap telling developers it could be harder to get city permits for a planned Boston high-rise due to a union issue in Somerville.

The ramifications. Every news outlet now has the same question for Walsh: Could he get indicted, as part of the federal probe? To each, Walsh has been adamant. “I will not be getting one of those,” the mayor told the Globe. To Fox25 Boston, he said, "I will absolutely not." MASSterlist newsletter-writers Jay Fitzgerald and Keith Regan are calling this Walsh's "near-Nixon moment," comparing it to the infamous "I'm not a crook" proclamation.

The fallout. Walsh's involvement in the probe puts other public officials under scrutiny as well. Conversations with Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone while Walsh was union head spawned a Boston Herald article Tuesday, to which Curtatone decisively responded later that day.

What it's not. Yes, the mayor's name is plastered on headlines next to words like "union" and "federal probe," but none of the allegations so far even hint at impropriety while in office. That's an important distinction. Could Walsh still get indicted for past misdeeds? Not impossible. But that's a far cry from abusing his public position.

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