WaPo Notes Dem Party Connection in 'Whitey' Bulger Arrest Story... In Very Last Paragraph

"TV, Twitter were Boston mobster's undoing" the below-the-fold page A1 Washington Post headline informed readers this morning.

In the 21-paragraph story that followed, Post staffer Jerry Markon detailed how the FBI closed in on the alleged serial killer and wanted mob boss.

Yet Markon waited until the very last paragraph to note James "Whitey" Bulger's familial connection to Bay State Democratic politics:

Bulger, who ratted out his rivals in the Italian Mafia as a government informant, also had political connections. His brother, William M. Bulger, was a Democrat who presided over the Massachusetts state Senate for two decades and became president of the University of Massachusetts system. He was forced to resign over refusing to talk during a 2003 congressional inquiry about James Bulger’s activities.

As I noted yesterday, MSNBC avoided referring to Billy Bulger, including how he resigned under pressure from the presidency of UMass when then-Gov. Romney slammed him for failing to aid a congressional inquiry into his mobster brother.

From the August 6, 2003 New York Times:

William M. Bulger resigned today as president of the University of Massachusetts after months of mounting criticism and political pressure over his ties to his fugitive brother.

 

Mr. Bulger, 69, a Democrat who is a former longtime president of the Massachusetts Senate, read a statement saying his decision to resign was a result of "a calculated political assault" on him, largely by Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican.

 

A spokesman for Mr. Bulger, Robert Connolly, said: "Mostly it was the dispute with the governor. While it had abated over the past few weeks, it was not going away." The wrangling was harming the university, Mr. Connolly added.

 

The resignation of Mr. Bulger, for years one of the most powerful political figures in the state, was seen by many politicians as a major victory for Mr. Romney, who first attacked Mr. Bulger in December. That was when Mr. Bulger refused to testify to a Congressional committee about his brother, James Bulger, known as Whitey, who is on the F.B.I. Most Wanted List.

 

In February, Mr. Romney proposed eliminating William Bulger's position as part of a broad reorganization of the University of Massachusetts. The battle continued in June, when Mr. Romney called on Mr. Bulger to resign after he gave what Mr. Romney said was evasive testimony about his brother to the House Government Reform Committee.

# # #