The correct thing to do with a potential scandal, it is said, is to have a free-ranging press conference, answer all the questions openly and freely, until you exhaust the possible questions and tire out the journalists. That’s what John Tierney tried to do today, since his brothers-in-law have implicated him in the illegal offshore gambling scheme.
There are a few possibilities here:
- Tierney knew it all; he’s lying and a crook (albeit an un-indicted one), like the Eremian brothers say.
- The brothers-in-law are lying scumbags; Tierney knew nothing at all, as he said
- He should have known, but turned a blind eye, or rationalized, or didn’t-quite-succeed-in-not-knowing-about the activity.
Anyway, the full statement is below. I think it’s pretty decent as such. I have no way of evaluating the facts or the characters involved, and I don’t find it satisfying to rely on my own hunches or impressions of candor. Do Tierney’s remarks seem credible to you?
Much depends on how credible are the Eremian brothers. What’s their motivation for fingering him? Is it spite that he couldn’t be the fixer for them, as Tierney contends? Or that he’s getting away with it and they’re not? Do they have incentive to squeal on him to get lighter sentences, or is that all by the boards?
Here’s the statement:
Thank you all for coming. I called this press conference because I want to answer any and all questions about my wife Patrice’s situation and to address recent statements made by my brothers- in-law.
The past two years have been difficult and painful for Patrice and me. It’s sad, upsetting, and frankly embarrassing to watch your extended family come apart so publicly. Throughout this ordeal, my first priorities have always been to support my wife and to continue representing my constituents. I regret that my constituents have had to watch my wife’s drama unfold on the front pages of the newspaper. But nothing has weakened my resolve to continue to fight for the people of the 6th district. Unfortunately, the situation involving my wife’s family has provided an open platform for some people to say things without regard to the source or the truth.
My wife Patrice is the most loving and giving person I know. It was her spirit of giving and kindness that made me want to spend my life with her.
Patrice has always worked hard to hold her fractured family together. She served as the de facto mother and primary caretaker for a family plagued by drug abuse, alcoholism, and tragedy. Ten years ago, after her brother Robert moved from Massachusetts to Antigua, he asked Patrice to help look after his teenage children who were still living here, but without either parent.
Robert was gone. The children’s mother was receiving treatment in another state. The children had become troubled. So Patrice agreed to help ensure that they had the necessary care including clothing, school expenses, transportation and medical care. Her brother reimbursed her for these expenses, and added her as a signatory on his bank account so that she could pay the children’s household expenses.
Let me be 100% clear, as I have said numerous times and consistently from the beginning, including the first day any news broke on this: I believed at that time that my brother-in-law was working in a legitimate, legal on-line gambling business in Antigua. I believed this because Robert’s parole officer believed it. I believed it because the US attorney believed it. And I believed it because a United States District Court Judge believed it. Each of them, the parole officer, US Attorney and Federal District Court Judge had each given him express permission in a court order to go to Antigua for that work. A copy of that court order is available for you here today.
Yes, I was aware that both of Patrice’s brothers had a history and were involved in the gambling business in some capacity in the 1990s. But clearly, the court and the authorities who oversaw his legal situation thought Robert had turned his life around.
Do I wish different decisions had been made? Of course. And Patrice has acknowledged that she subsequently made a mistake, and pled to willful blindness about the source of the funds that Robert reported on his tax returns, which his CPA signed and filed…but no one should question Patrice’s motives.
Even at her sentencing, the prosecutor said that she, “committed the offense out of some benevolent belief that she was doing this to help her elderly mother and her brother’s children.” We had hoped that after the painful price she had paid, that we would be able to move on. But this past week Patrice’s brothers made insinuations that I was aware of some sort of illegal activities they were engaged in. Remember, Daniel Eremian was claiming up until last week that he was innocent. Robert Eremian, a fugitive, still claims to be innocent. How can they claim to be innocent and at the same time say that I knew of their guilt?
This makes no sense. And in fact, it wasn’t until learning that he would get a more severe sentence than expected that Daniel’s lashed out in anger.
Let’s be clear: if Patrice’s brothers had actually thought that Patrice was withholding information, trying to protect me, or that there was anything that could shift the blame away from themselves, why didn’t Daniel’s lawyers bring it up at trial? Why didn’t they use it to destroy her credibility and undermine her testimony before the jury? Patrice spent hours on the stand as a witness. It’s not as if they didn’t have an opportunity. It was only after the sentence that Daniel’s anger turned to innuendo.
And again—I have been clear from the beginning that based on the court order, I knew that Robert was involved in a gambling business, but one that the court believed was legal.
The fact is that Robert and Daniel Eremian are simply continuing their pattern of putting their family through turmoil, and trying to blame anyone but themselves. It is unfortunate that their bitterness would continue to run to this level of anger and lies.
Their attacks fly in the face of the federal judge in this case, who went out of his way to publicly clear me of any involvement stating, and once again I’m quoting here, that I was “not implicated in this in any way, shape or form.”
Still, despite that, my political opponents have tried to make wild accusations at me and at Patrice at every opportunity. And I know that my brothers-in-law, who harbor anger and bitterness, will continue to try to attack both of us.
I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for me. But I will acknowledge that it been difficult to endure watching Patrice’s pain and her family’s disintegration dragged into the public spotlight again and again to serve my opponent’s political motives. Having spent our lives building reputations in this community – ones of honesty and integrity– there is no joy in witnessing others try to disparage us out of personal resentment or to score cheap political points.
I love my wife. I continue to support her, and stand by her. And I continue to be driven to provide the service to our communities and the people of Massachusetts that I have worked so hard to do over the past 16 years. So, I am here to answer any questions that you have.
Globe’s Glen Johnson, a very straight-shooting reporter, has a write-up here.
Discuss
54 Comments . Leave a comment below.The hyper partisan ET says he “owes the voters of the 6th District a full and complete explanation of his knowledge of and role”.
http://www.eagletribune.com/opinion/x1395106187/Editorial-Tierneys-denials-dont-pass-the-smell-test
Is there a transcript of the Q&A part of the press conference available?
So Democrat John Tierney knew his family ran a gambling operation, but he thought it was legit. That is what he said, I can’t make this up. As Dr. Evil would say, “Rrrrright”.
This guy sounds like Billy Bulger who went on the record saying he believed his brother, Whitey, was in the gaming business as well.
Kool-Aid drinkers of BMG, put down the spiked liquid and run this guy out of your party, just like Republicans ran Mark Foley out on a rail. As Scott Brown said in 2010, “we can do better”. Obviously, the bar ain’t too high to clear on this one folks, so start movin and shakin and offer up a honest candidate not blinded by the bling-bling of $$$$$$. Otherwise, be the first to set a minimum standard for our politicians, Democrat or Republican, and endorse Tisea.
is obviously hyper-partisan with nothing intelligent to say. This sort of juvenile name calling is a clear signal to disregard anything the person says.
advice to liberals shouldn’t be listened to.
Agreed. Political advice from one’s opponents is never useful — or even meant to be useful.
The Republican Party under the speakership of Hastert was hardly a model for probity. The example of Foley is even mildly laughable: he was protected not “run out” for a longish period.
But there are obvious examples of Republicans turning blind eyes. First off, there’s the ongoing climate change denial that has deeply infected Republican ranks without much push back from those who should know better and who should be alarmed.
Second, we hear exactly zero Republicans complain about the fraudulent magic asterisks in the Ryan “budget”. Exactly zero.
That includes faux independents.
Posted on 6-23, direct shot at the Ryan Budget
Look everyone. People like me pay into medicare all my life, and now they are about to move the goal post, and turn it into a voucher system. That is not the deal I signed up for when I first started contributing toward it, but this is inevitable unless we go after some of these sacred cows that petr so eloquently defended
Tisei how to run their campaigns? Why take up space when no one is listening.
I happen to agree with you. I don’t expect the Democratic party to do anything to Tierney.
I think he is a fine representative of the party and they should back him 100% by having numerous photos taken with him, going to his events, and in general speaking up about how great a guy he is.
No one is giving Scott Brown advice on how to run his campaign. We may celebrate the mistakes his campaign makes. “Don’t say you’ve met with Kings and Queens when you haven’t” doesn’t really count as campaign advice.
And Richard M. Nixon, Warren G. Harding, and George W. Bush are excellent representatives of the GOP — if I may play your game.
there is plenty of “Brown should…” on this site every day, and none of those guys are on the ballot in November. Two are dead. Just one more person who has to get the last word in apparently.
generally takes the form of “Senator Scott Brown should embrace Democratic policies then he wouldn’t be such a doodiehead.” The other advice is to request ever so respectfully that Mr. Brown conduct a more Dukakis-like campaign, one that would appeal to wonky liberals.
One can’t really call any of that campaign advice.
with $100K in his freezer? Tierney reminds me of him.
I disagree with putting electing a jabroni like the ones above. Minimum standards have to be in place for both parties. You know who was another idiot, Jeff Perry in the 10th. So glad he lost as well.
And, so what?
…I didn’t expect DanfromWaltham to be satisfied. OK, Dan, it’s put up or shut up time. Go through Tierney’s statement above. Please let us know which parts you believe to be untrue and submit evidence for your claims. Tierney did his part.
don’t deal with facts preferring to wallow in innuendo and sarcasm. Reading what he writes makes me feel dirtier and dumber.
If you work for Tierney, please be sure to have plenty of hand sanitizer, okay?
.
hands after dragging your knuckles.
Knuckle dragger b/c I don’t believe Tierney is that stupid. Your attempt to shut down this debate by slandering me just shows how weak you are. Don’t worry, I won’t go crying to Bob or David asking for a yellow card for your personal attack. I actually feel sorry for you.
you wrote, “If you work for Tierney, please be sure to have plenty of hand sanitizer, okay?”
If you’re going to call what you do “debate,” you should learn the name of the fallacies you use. This one is called ad hominem.
Thanks for feeling sorry for me. I stay up late at night worrying about what you think about me. In fact, I’ve been posting and commenting for years (at least since Deval Patrick ran for office), just waiting for you to come along and feel sorry for me.
Did Deval have you at “yes”. Didn’t know I was dealing with a seasoned veteran. The sanitizer remark was a jab at Tierney and protecting you.
What comes after knuckle dragger?
What was Deval’s slogan that grabbed you? I can’t remember.
can separate your ad hominems from your arguments, you’ll won’t be such a boor.
Protecting me from a guy I can’t even vote for? You’ve got a sophomoric knack for condescension that detracts from whatever ideas you have to offer.
Then the little jab at the end suggesting I’m a sucker for the Governor and am too shallow to evaluate hiim. I was referring to how long I’ve been on BMG.
BMG.
If you will notice, Dan From Waltham seems to have read Mr. Carnegie’s eponymous book on Opposite Day. He has decided that the best thing he can do is “Make Enemies and Antagonize People”. He thrives on negative energy. There’s no one here who enjoys debating with him. No one.
It is evidently useless to try to discuss with him how he can better fit in, how we can take him more seriously, or how he might encounter less hostility, because he seeks hostility, not to avoid it.
This is the origin of the phrase “feeding the troll”. Trolls thrive on negativity. To criticize is to feed.
claiming to protect Marc, as in Davidson, not Mark, as in Bail.
When does college start again?
,
Or did someone pull your string? Time for new material.
“Patrice Tierney was called as a witness in that case, but she invoked spousal privilege to avoid answering questions about her husband.”
How convenient, right Christopher?
How about this little token from Dem. Tierney “who twice visited the house in Antigua where the operation continues to be based, said that there were no obvious signs that his relatives were running a gambling operation”.
Sgt. Shultz, we have found your replacement. Now for the Wheel Of Fortune of all FACTS. Are you ready?
“Prosecutors say Patrice Tierney managed a Massachusetts bank account for her brother Robert Eremian that received more than $7 million in illegal gambling profits, and that she provided information to his tax preparer that mischaracterized his profits as commissions.
The congressman said his wife thought she was helping her brother and their troubled family by paying bills and handing tax payments, and that any payments to her were gifts of gratitude for her efforts”
Now I understand why people will vote for Obama over Mitt, and to a much much lesser extent, understand why people will vote for Warren over Brown. BUT, if the people in the 6th vote for Tierney over Tisea, they whole district should be shunned by not only MA, but the rest of the country. You see, I believe Tierney is not as dumb as many of you suggest he is. I think he is a smart guy and could not possible be as oblivious to what is going around him, as many of you pathetically wish to be the case.
According to Tierney, Robert Eremian was “turning his life around”, until he implicated the Congressman. Then, Tierney says don’t believe that “fugitive”.
Tierney’s account of his wife’s criminal activity is completely at odds with every news account I’ve ever seen.
Democrats need to dump this guy quick. I don’t think he’s going to resign to spend more time with his family.
I would hate to see that district represented by someone beholden to John Boehner. Remember Boehner, the guy who passed out checks from tobacco lobbyists on the floor of the House of Representatives? He claims that he’s turned his life around since that “mistake” but I don’t believe him either.
Tierney (other end of the state from me), but it’s too late to dump him. No one’s going to win a sticker campaign.
If he’s a bad character, we’re left with choosing the between worst of two worlds: a bad character that votes the right way; or a good character who votes the wrong way. There is something to be said for elected officials of good character. Their opposite tend to erode confidence in our government. On the other hand, I think congressional votes matter more in my opinion. Who would cast the votes that, as I see it, would be best for me and the country? That’s the question I would ask if I were voting in that Congressional election.
I’d take two things from this:
1. It really would be better if we had a different candidate for this seat. Even if Rep. Tierney has understated his case and the truth is even a bit better than he portrays it, it is still going to cause an ongoing, unnecessary scandal that will detract from his candidacy and his role.
2. One doesn’t have to be a troll to recognize that Mr. Tierney has every motivation to stretch the truth here, make things look better than they are, and even perhaps say things that aren’t true — especially if he can get away with it. I’m not saying he’s lying. He might be being completely honest. I just don’t know. We just don’t know. So there’s a significant risk here. The halo effect can be pretty powerful after all.
You provide no link, but even what you did provide is about his wife, and the judge said he has not been implicated. If my hypothetical wife were a member of Congress I’d invoke spousal too in order to keep away from her anything that really wasn’t her problem anyway. If there is reason to indict Tierney, prosecutors should do that; otherwise nothing to see here – move along.
I suggest you read it too, and read it skeptically.
The Globe is out to get Tierney. Looks like somebody is drunk on Kool-Aid, don’t party with kbush
…and reread it now at kbusch’s suggestion, and don’t find anything terribly damning. Both sides can pick out lines they like I suppose, but I believe in innocent until proven guilty and the Congressman himself hasn’t even been charged let alone convicted. I can see that this does not make him an ideal candidate and if there were a primary this may be something to consider from an electability standpoint. However, danfromwaltham is asking us to support Tisei over Tierney and that I cannot do. I still would vote for the person mostly likely to vote as I prefer most of the time. I’d rather risk Tierney being forced out down the road thus triggering a special election and the opportunity to elect a different Democrat, than hand the seat to a Republican. Until then I am confident that this is a case about his wife, who has done her time, and more especially her brothers, and the Congressman’s “guilt” is at best by association.
Risk a vote and hope he doesn’t become ensnarled in a lawsuit or disgrace/embarrass the district? Really? Wow.
If its between Tierney and Tisei, then give the guy who at least is aware of his surroundings, my gosh, get a clue, will ya.
…basing one’s vote on a Congressman’s actual job description (ie casting votes on behalf of his constituents) is a “terrible reason” for making that decision? Very interesting “logic”!
That is your standard, I guess. Just push a button on certain issues to satisfy the constituents. You see, I want leaders who tackle complex issues. You and I agree the Ryan Budget is terrible, but at least he leads. Perhaps Tisei can modernize the Rep Party, which would be a good thing, is u believe in democracy.
Have a great 4th you all, off to a BBQ.
Congressman can modernize a political party? Not to mention the fact that you’re talking about the Republican Party, which has been steadily marching back to the Stone Age and thinks it has a long way to go in that direction?
That’s not democracy, it’s daydreaming.
to the Democratic Party, just come out and say it.
think and what to say. If you left out that kind of obnoxiousness, you’d be easier to tolerate.
It goes without saying that as a Republican candidate, Tisei is a threat to a Democratic office holder. I’m not really familiar with either one, but Tisei appears to be a reasonable Republican candidate running against a damaged Democratic candidate.
Is there a point, or are you just having a problem communicating?
…but it sure as heck isn’t mine. Of course monkey’s can’t consider the merits of legislation and you denigrate the discussion when you go this route.
Pelosi even said you need to pass legislation to find out what is in it. Don’t mess with a bull, Christopher, or you’ll get the horns.
it’s not the horn end I’d be worried about.
You have caught a case of grocer’s apostrophes from contact.
That was taken out of context, but yes sometimes how a bill will work in practice isn’t going to be 100% clear until passed and implemented, but if recent history and partisan practice is any guide, Tierney voted for the ACA whereas there is a good chance Tisei would not. That’s as much as I need to know on that particular issue (The specifics are why elected and pay congressmen and their staffs after all.), but we could go down the list of other issues. I absolutely stand by what I said and notice I’ve done it without calling people jokers or comparing them to monkeys.
Voting for someone who considers the merits of the legislation, did u not? Hence the Pelosi gem of a quote, which is likely the truth. So if u want some to vote party line, then a trained monkey is all you need.
I believe Tisea would have made strong improvements to any h/c proposal, unless you feel it is already perfect.
Please ask kbusch to stop stalking us, it is getting kinda creepy, no?
the Democrats have to get rid of Tierney. Don’t make the voters choose between the party of Carribean offshore gambling accounts and Republicans.
I don’t agree that it’s too late. First of all, this scandal has been public for almost two years. There has been plenty of time to ease Tierney out, gently or otherwise. What’s been missing is not the time to get rid of him but the will.
And if there are rules that prevent us now from running a qualified candidate, change the rules. We changed the law for the benefit of the immortal Paul Kirk.
That’s it. You need an organization. You also need a candidate. I don’t think it’s a matter of rules. It’s logistics. Physically getting people on the ballot. I think there are laws about that.
I’m out here in the West, so I have no idea if anyone is waiting in the wings.
You have me at an advantage: who’s Paul Kirk?
was briefly our Senator — after Senator Kennedy’s passing and before Scott Brown took office.
about him and certainly never would have recalled his name.
Don’t you remember how the Dems changed the rule back in 2004 to prevent the sitting governor (Mitt Romney) from filling a vacant senate seat if Kerry defeated Bush?
Then in 2009, the same party changed the rules again, allowing a Democratic governor (Deval Patrick) to fill the senate seat until after the special election.
isn’t what it used to be, even at 48.
At least one of these moments was not the best for Massachusetts Democrats.
The 2004 legislation backfired. If the Democratic Machine were not so power hungry and left the original law in place, there would be no Senator Scott Brown, Deval would have simply appointed Kennedy’s replacement in 2009.
I wondered why Deval did not throw a bone to Mike Dukakis, instead of Paul Kirk.
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