In this context, Hedlund went on the say that he had a pick that he’d like to make, but wouldn’t do so publicly because it was based on “anecdotal evidence,” which he then shared (minus the name of the Senator in question). Sen. Hedlund told how he had an old personal friend who went on to work in law enforcement (he wouldn’t say in what branch of law enforcement his friend works, but clarified that it was a “very powerful” branch- I’d guess that means federal) and that this old friend had once warned him to “stay away from” one of his colleagues in the State Senate!
The second part of this story is the reaction (or lack of one) by one of Boston’s most important political journalists to this story that was told to him, by an elected official, on live radio. One might think that a sitting State Senator publicly stating that a friend working at a law enforcement agency had warned him to “stay away from” another sitting State Senator would have a political reporter like Dave Wedge calling his editor to stop the presses and fire up the Herald Huge Headline Machine, but nothing seems to have happened. Wedge actually seemed bored by the whole thing and quickly got off the phone after Hedlund’s extraordinary tale and no mention of anything seems to be in the Herald on Tuesday (understandable, since the revelation was late Monday) or Wednesday. Even without a name, this story is to me definitely newsworthy on a number of levels. It was clearly on the record, so there is no legit reason to not share with the public. Is it possible Mr. Wedge thinks there is no story here? Or is he protecting Sen. Hedlund (with whom Wedge is friendly and seems to have some cross-promotion arrangement) from his own loose lips at the expense of good journalism and the public’s right to know? Maybe it’s neither, and Mr. Wedge will soon be reporting this with even more facts than Hedlund shared Monday night. I hope it’s the last option, but I’m not particularly optimistic.
I wish I could find a podcast or recording of this, but no luck so far. I’ll keep looking.
Because if Hedlund spoke the truth then…
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p>1) a Federal agent just compromised the success of an investigation by gossiping about it to Hedlund
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p>2) Hedlund just compromised the success of an investigation by blabbering about it on the radio.
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p>It would be an egregious misstep for a lawmaker to obstruct law enforcement.
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p>No, the most likely thing here is a very weak and powerless politician tried to make himself seem important by broadcasting something that no one can back up. It’s very easy to put together words that hint at an allegation without making it (Karl Rove was good at that). “Now, where did I read that Senator Hedlund was not reporting his full income to the IRS?”
Hedlunds friend apparently told him one of the senators who hasn’t already been indicted is corrupt and doing illegal things?
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p>Stop the bleeping presses. If I was a journalist I’d be sick of doing these stories too.
I choose to believe that if there is a story here, Dave Wedge is pursuing it. If he finds anything to report, when he has something of substance to report, then and only then he will report it.
…in Dave Wedge is notable.