POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Republican governor’s race gets rowdy

 

Republican governor’s race gets rowdy

By KELLY GARRITY 

 

06/09/2025 07:29 AM EDT  

PARTY POLITICS — There are more than 400 days before voters head to the polls to pick their gubernatorial nominees, but on the Republican side, things are already getting heated.

DON'T RE-WRITE HISTORY! "R" VOTERS ARE CONSPICUOUSLY UNINFORMED, BUT SUPPORTING GOP LOSERS COST TAXPAYERS!

THE WHITE TOOTHED GOVERNOR WAS POPULAR BECAUSE THE MEDIA GAVE HIM A FREE PASS - NEVER SCRUTINIZED HIS FAILURES - LIKE THE MBTA FIASCOS - 

Massachusetts will have to pay interest costs related to $2.5B unemployment benefit error

Chris Lisinski

State House News Service

Feb 7, 2025 

An employer-funded account will repay most of the money Massachusetts owes to the federal government due to a Baker administration accounting error, but state budget-writers might also need to find hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade to cover the interest.

Gov. Maura Healey in January announced the state reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to settle a Baker-era mistake in which Massachusetts paid $2.5 billion in unemployment benefits using federal funds that should have been deployed elsewhere.

Under the agreement, Massachusetts will pay $2.034 billion to the federal government from the employer-funded unemployment insurance trust fund and $73 million in back interest, which will instead come from the state's General Fund.

CAPE COD TIMES

WHITE TOOTHED BAKER HAD COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE MBTA BY HIS CHOICE - FAILED CHINESE RAIL CARS,  FAILED TRACKS THAT BAKER WAS AWARE OF & LEFT, FEDERAL SAFETY ISSUES, OVERPAID HACKS IN CHARGE OF CONSTRUCTION WHO NEVER TRAVELED TO THE STATE....THERE IS A LENGTHY LIST OF THE INCOMPETENT POLITICAL HACKS BAKER APPOINTED...SLOW ZONE SHORTSLEEVE IS GONNA BRAG ABOUT HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS? 

NOT TO WORRY! TRUMPER MIKE KENNEALY WITH SHOVEL THE DIRT...THEN WE CAN ADDRESS TRUMPER KENNEALY'S LIES & FAILURES! 

The two former members of Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration seeking the state’s top office — SLOW ZONE Brian Shortsleeve and TRUMPER Mike Kennealy — have been trading barbs in recent days over early fundraising numbers.

SLOW ZONE  Shortsleeve, who helped run the MBTA under Baker, touted his first month’s fundraising numbers in a press release that featured a not-so-subtle nod to Kennealy’s own first month announcement. It touted that Shortsleeve’s more than $400,000 haul broke “the previous non-incumbent record” for post-launch fundraising — the same boast Kennealy’s campaign previously made about its first-month figures.

And the hits kept coming in an internal memo from Shortsleeve’s campaign on the state of the money race.

“[Kennealy’s] early claims of fundraising success following his first report quickly backfired after reporting in the Boston Herald that his numbers were inflated by illegal campaign contributions,” one of Shortsleeve’s consultants, Jim Barnett, wrote in the memo, per a copy obtained by Massachusetts Playbook. “It’s been all downhill since.”

A spokesperson for Kennealy, the former housing and economic development secretary, downplayed the fundraising haul when Shortsleeve first announced it. “No amount of money Brian Shortsleeve raises can erase his failures at the MBTA — or recover the millions wasted on a rail deal with the Chinese Communist Party and an utterly botched Green Line Extension,” BLOVIATOR Logan Trupiano KNOWN FOR SUPPORTING MASS GOP LOSERS said in a statement.

It’s some (very) early jockeying in a primary race with an election that’s more than a year out. Just how early? Baker didn’t even launch his first campaign for governor in 2010 until July of 2009.

Still, Bay State Republicans have been bullish about their chances to win back the governor’s office (See: reaction to the latest University of New Hampshire poll.} after getting shut out of every statewide office in 2022.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan waved off the UNH poll over the weekend.

“Governor Healey is going to earn re-election because she understands Massachusetts people need someone who’s going to fight to lower costs for them, going to fight to increase housing opportunities for them, going to fight back against Donald Trump,” Kerrigan said during an interview on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” that aired Sunday. “And frankly, neither Mike Kennealy nor Brian Shortsleeve are willing to do any of that.”

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey tours a housing development at 2:30 p.m. and visits a hospital at 4:10 p.m. on Martha’s Vineyard. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signs the Fiscal Year 2026 budget at 9:45 a.m. at City Hall. Sen. Ed Markey addresses business leaders at a New England Council breakfast at 10 a.m. in Boston.

Playbook isn’t just a newsletter — it’s a podcast, too. With new co-hosts who bring unmatched Trump world reporting and analysis, The Playbook Podcast dives deeper into the power plays shaping Washington. Get the insider edge—start listening now.

CALIFORNIA v. TRUMP

****WIDELY REPORTED ELSEWHERE! THIS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL!***

— Newsom calls National Guard deployment ‘unlawful’ as immigration clashes rock L.A. by Blake Jones, POLITICO: “Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration called the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops to the Los Angeles area ‘unlawful,’ urging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday to back down as demonstrators clashed with law enforcement. The Trump administration’s extraordinary deployment of the Guard to quell immigration protests in Southern California came without necessary coordination with California officials, Newsom’s legal affairs secretary wrote in a letter to Hegseth.”

— Escalating ICE raids pull California Democrats back into immigration fight by Dustin Gardiner, POLITICO.

THE LOCAL ANGLE — Monday rally at Boston City Hall to protest ICE detention of union leader via Universal Hub.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— Gov. Healey touts WalletHub rankings. Reality is more complicated by Chris Van Buskirk and Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Gov. Maura Healey promoted a ranking last week that claimed Massachusetts had ‘the best state economy’ in the United States. The first-term Democrat, who is up for reelection next year, touted the ranking as a ‘testament to the incredible businesses, universities, and research institutions that drive our innovation economy and to the top-notch talent that continues to choose Massachusetts as the place to grow their careers and their futures.’ But the reality of residents’ lived experiences and the reliability of the ranking is more complicated, including the fact that WalletHub does not guarantee the accuracy of the information it publishes.” 

BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG PAYWALL! SO DESPERATE FOR READERS, ASKING FOR $1 SUBSCRIPTION! WHEN IT WAS GIVEN AWAY IN THE SUBWAY, IT WAS WORTH THE PRICE!

— Lawmakers weigh ban on religious vaccine exemptions by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: “Religious exemptions for most vaccinations for school-aged children would be banned in Massachusetts under a proposal being considered by state lawmakers, but critics say the move would be discriminatory and violate religious rights. The legislation, heard by the Legislature’s Public Health Committee on Friday, would eliminate a section of the state’s vaccine law that allows parents with ‘sincere religious beliefs’ to be exempted from a requirement to submit proof of vaccination to enroll their children in public schools.”

PAY WALL

— Tarr, Newburyport student propose CPR bill by Matt Petry, The Newburyport Daily News.

PAY WALL

THERE IS SO MUCH IN THE MAGA GOP DIASASTER, THIS IS JUST ONE MORE DETESTABLE CUTS! 

SENATE REPUBLICANS HAVE TO RE-WRITE MAGA GOP TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY & ENDLESS DEFICITS! 

CURRENT U.S. DEBT IS ~ $ 37 TRILLION!

U.S. DEBT CLOCK  

THERE'S $40 MILLION FOR TRUMP'S PARK:

Trump Could Use Sacred Native Land for a Monument to… Christopher Columbus

excerpt: 

A provision buried deep in the House budget bill allocates $40 million toward President Donald Trump’s plan for a vast garden of larger-than-life statues — and it could get built on sacred Native land.

The House version of the budget reconciliation bill passed last month contains funding for Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes, which would lionize figures ranging from Andrew Jackson to Harriet Tubman.

While the garden does not have an official location yet, one candidate is minutes from Mount Rushmore National Memorial, the iconic carvings of presidential faces in South Dakota’s Black Hills. Trump first announced his plan for a national statue garden during a July 4, 2020, address at Mount Rushmore in response to the racial justice protesters toppling Confederate statues.

THE INTERCEPT

— Healey urges U.S. Senate to reject Pell Grant cuts, touting success of Massachusetts program by Tonya Alanez, The Boston Globe.

THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

— Ward 6’s Lane not seeking reelection, McCauley running for mayor by Jim Sullivan, The Newburyport Daily News: “There will be a new face representing Ward 6 this winter after Councilor Byron Lane announced Thursday he would not be seeking another term this fall. The Hart Road resident joined the council five years and although he took out nomination papers last month for a potential fourth term, Lane said he doesn’t intend to return them to City Hall. Instead, he wants to devote more time to his growing limousine service as well as his 12-year-old son.”

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— Driver’s licenses in limbo: Government debts jeopardize thousands of Massachusetts drivers by Laura Crimaldi, The Boston Globe: “Thousands of Massachusetts drivers each year face the possibility of losing their legal authority to drive, and sometimes the only fix carries an insurmountable cost. The state Registry of Motor Vehicles placed driver’s licenses in non-renewal status nearly 3 million times during a five-period because of unpaid tolls and other debts unrelated to road safety, according to agency data reviewed by the Globe. The designation means that once those driver’s licenses expire, they cannot be renewed, unless the entire debt, sometimes thousands of dollars, is paid in full.”

DAY IN COURT

— Hearing for judge accused of helping man sought by ICE escape begins Monday by Matthew Medsgar, Boston Herald: “Half-a-decade after she was charged with several serious federal crimes, a Massachusetts judge will finally have her day in court — sort of. In a case bearing striking similarity to a more recent arrest of a judge from Wisconsin, former Newton District Court Judge Shelley Joseph will appear for a Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct hearing on Monday, over allegations she willfully helped a man wanted by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in evading federal authorities. A court assigned hearing officer will examine the courthouse scene of the alleged crime which ultimately led to a judicial complaint against the Bay State judge, before the hearing gets underway over whether she violated the rules of conduct for jurists.”

TRUMPER MIKE KINNEALLY PROMOTED THE MBTA COMMUNITIES ACT & CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY ALL THE FUSS!

— MBTA Communities law is not an unfunded mandate, judge rules by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon: “A Plymouth County judge overseeing a bundle of municipal lawsuits from towns seeking to halt enforcement of the MBTA Communities housing law has denied their motion for a preliminary injunction and dismissed their complaints. In a 40-page decision released Friday afternoon, Superior Court Justice Mark Gildea considered lawsuits brought by the towns of Duxbury, Hanson, Holden, Marshfield, Middleton, Wenham, Weston, and Wrentham, plus a taxpayer suit brought by Hamilton residents.”

FROM THE DELEGATION

****MUST READ! ICE GESTAPO ABUSE! WHEN LOCAL OFFICIALS REQUESTED NAMES & INFORMATION, ICE CONCEALED THAT INFORMATION! 

ICE GESTAPO MAKES INFLAMMATORY ACCUSATIONS OF CRIMES, BUT REFUSES NAMES? ICE GESTAPO WITCH HUNTS WITHOUT WARRANTS, WITHOUT DUE PROCESS, WITHOUT NAMES? WHAT ARE THE CRIMES? WHAT ARE THE NAMES? ICE GESTAPO IS DISAPPEARING PEOPLE WITHOUT DISCLOSURE! ****

— U.S. Rep. Keating demands answers from ICE after roundups on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket by Denise Coffey, Cape Cod Times: “U.S. Rep. Bill Keating is demanding answers from federal officials about the specifics of last month’s roundup of immigrants on Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Plymouth by agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Officers with ICE and other federal agencies detained about 40 individuals and arrested 12 on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket on May 27. On May 30, ICE agents conducted a sweep in Plymouth. All three areas are in Keating’s Ninth Congressional District.”

excerpt: 

Officers with ICE and other federal agencies detained about 40 individuals and arrested 12 on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket on May 27. On May 30, ICE agents conducted a sweep in Plymouth. All three areas are in Keating’s Ninth Congressional District.  

Keating is uphappy over the information blackout by federal agencies over those caught up in the ICE detentions.

“The lack of transparency — the failure to notify local law enforcement, the failure to release any concrete information about the detentions, the decision to use unmarked vehicles, plain clothed officers and masks — is making our communities less safe,” Keating wrote in a June 2 letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, acting director of ICE Todd Lyons and FBI Director Kash Patel. 

No information has been given on the specific number or identities of those detained or arrested. Keating wants a full list of detainees and any criminal charges against them. According to reports from two police departments and the Town of Plymouth, ICE did not provide prior notice that its agents would be in those areas for enforcement action, Keating wrote.

In his letter, Keating said his constituents are concerned that the ICE enforcement actions were not targeted, but focused on pulling over commercial vehicles. The actions have left communities scared and fearful for their safety, regardless of immigration status, he wrote.

In his letter, Keating seeks answers by June 6 to nearly 20 questions, among them:

• What methods ICE and federal agents used to determine which vehicles to pull over? 

• What steps agents used to determine the legal status of occupants in vehicle stopped? 

• What protocols are in place to prevent wrongful detentions? 

• How many vehicles were stopped? 

• Were any individuals detained in these actions the target of a warrant or detainer order? 

Federal officials defended the detainments, saying the "enforcement action" is about public safety.

At a June 2 press conference in Boston, acting ICE Director Lyons said 1,500 criminal and illegal aliens have been arrested in Massachusetts since May 1 during what he called Operation Patriot.

ICE POLITICAL HACKS REFUSING INFORMATION - IF THEY COMMITTED CRIMES, RELEASE THEIR NAMES! RELEASE INFORMATION! OTHERWISE, THIS IS AN EXCUSE TO DENY DUE PROCESS!

POLITICAL HACK LEAH B. FOLEY DEFENDS ICE GESTAPO ABUSE & MADE AN INFLAMMATORY STATEMENT THAT THEY COMMITTED CRIMES - PROVIDE NAMES! DEFENDING LAWLESSNESS!

Leah B. Foley, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said those arrested violated immigration laws and some went on to commit crimes.

Patricia H. Hyde, field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Boston, said 1,461 criminal alien offenders were arrested in May in Massachusetts. Of those, 790 had “significant criminality,” including allegations of rape, murder, drug trafficking, sexual, child and spousal abuse. No further details were given.  

Hyde criticized the actions of some state and local agencies who did not notify ICE when undocumented immigrants were arrested or brought to state courts on charges. She cited an example of an immigrant who had been deported from the country four times, who racked up three OUI charges when in the country and was released without ICE being notified. 

“When state and local jurisdictions don’t cooperate with ICE and let bad actors back into the community, that is sanctuary,” she said.  

The state was identified as a “sanctuary jurisdiction” by the Trump administration in late May. It was included on a list of places published by the Department of Homeland Security that are allegedly “deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws.” That list has subsequently been removed from the DHS website. 

A Massachusetts Trial Court policy on interactions with ICE says court personnel shall not initiate communication with ICE officers or employees unless a defendant is brought into state court on a special writ of habeas corpus, called an ICE Habe.  

“Court leaders in the Executive Office of the Trial Court developed the policy in accordance with the Supreme Judicial Court decision in Lunn v. Commonwealthand Massachusetts law,” wrote court spokesperson Erika Gully-Santiago in a June 3 email. 

In that decision, the court concluded that court officers lack the authority “...to arrest an individual pursuant to a request contained in a Federal civil immigration detainer to hold that individual for up to two days after he or she would otherwise be entitled to release from State custody; further, this court declined to adopt, as a matter of Massachusetts law, the theory of inherent authority to carry out such detainer requests as a basis for authorizing civil immigration arrests...” 

The Trial Court declined a request for an interview. 

TRUMPACHUSETTS

***CHRIS WRIGHT: 

Christopher Allen Wright is an American government official, engineer, and businessman serving as the 17th United States secretary of energy since 2025. Before his appointment, he was the CEO of Liberty Energy, North America's second largest hydraulic fracturing company, and served on the boards of Oklo Inc., a nuclear technology company, and EMX Royalty Corp., a Canadian mineral rights and mining rights royalty payment company. On November 16, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced Wright as his nominee for the U..S. Secretary of Energy. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the office on February 3, 2025 by a vote of 59–38.^[4] He was sworn in later that day.^[5]

In 1992, Wright founded Pinnacle Technologies, a company involved in commercial shale gas production through fracking and served as its CEO until 2006. He was also chairman of Stroud Energy,^[9] another company involved in the production of shale gas, before he sold the company in 2006.^[8] In 2011, he founded Liberty Energy, then known as Liberty Oilfield Services.^[10] As of February 2023, the company was valued at $2.8 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.^[11] As the CEO of Liberty Energy, Wright earned $5.6 million in 2023.^[6]

In April 2024, Wright testified on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate change rule from March 2024, which requires the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, physical risks to climate change and transition risks.^[20] He called the rule unlawful "climate regulation promulgated under the Commission's seal", said that companies' risks associated with extreme weather were decreasing,^[20]: 9 and that millions of lives had been saved by reducing cold-related deaths.^[20]: 10

Wright has been on the board of directors of Oklo Inc., a company that designs small fast-neutron reactors, and EMX Royalty Corp., a Canadian royalty payment company for mineral rights and mining rights.^[3]

WIKIPEDIA

— The Trump administration canceled an $87 million award for this MIT startup. But life goes on. by Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe: “Sublime Systems’ vision for creating a high-tech, low-carbon cement factory in Holyoke suffered a setback when the Trump administration’s Department of Energy canceled an $87 million award for the project. US Department of Energy secretary Chris Wright recently terminated 24 awards issued by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, mostly during the final weeks of the Biden administration. The list included just one grant in New England, the $87 million for Somerville-based Sublime. The agency said it was cancelling these projects because they were not economically viable, would not generate a positive return for taxpayers, and failed to help the country’s energy needs. But Sublime and its 100-person team have an increasing number of private-sector supporters who feel differently about the startup’s prospects — and the MIT spinout is still moving ahead with its $150 million project in Holyoke.”

Digging into claims Biden administration 'shoveled' $93 billion in loans out of Energy Department in final months

Laerke Christensen

Sat, June 7, 2025

• In May 2025, U.S. Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright repeatedly claimed that the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden lent or committed $93 billion to companies through the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO) in the final 76 days of the administration.

• It was unclear where Wright got this figure. According to our investigation, the LPO lent or committed anywhere from $68 billion to $77 billion between Nov. 5, 2024, and Jan. 20, 2025. According to usaspending.gov, the LPO awarded up to 27 loans during this period — around half the 53 the office said it announced during the Biden-Harris administration.

• Wright also claimed that, before Election Day in November 2024, the LPO had awarded loans worth $43 billion. We did not independently confirm this figure, though the LPO said on its website that it had "financed" a $43.9 billion portfolio by September 2024. This could be the number Wright was referring to.

After U.S. Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright testified (archived) at the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on May 21, 2025, a claim (archived) circulated alongside a video clip from the hearing that U.S. President Joe Biden gave out $93 billion in loans to businesses during its last 76 days through the Department of Energy.

One Facebook post read: "Wasting $93 billion of our hard earned money is criminal and it needs to be handled as such. Thank you Kennedy for exposing this!"

The claim also appeared on X (archived), Instagram (archived) and Threads (archived). Snopes users searched our site for information about the claim.

However, we found no evidence the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO) — which is the office claims are referring to — approved loans worth exactly $93 billion between Nov. 5, 2024 and Jan. 20, 2025. The office awards or guarantees loans to companies to advance clean energy, advanced transportation and Tribal energy projects in the United States.

According to the LPO's public news releases, the office announced loan guarantees or conditional commitments worth around $68 billion during this period. According to usaspending.gov, an open data source of federal spending information, new loans issued by the LPO during that period totaled around $77 billion.

On Jan. 17, 2025, the LPO said in its 2024 year-in-review that it had announced "53 deals totaling approximately $107.57 billion" during the entire Biden-Harris administration from January 2021 to January 2025. Though none of these figures corresponded exactly to Wright's claim, according to usaspending.gov, the LPO awarded 27 of the 53 loans on or after Nov. 5, 2024, indicating a flurry of activity in the administration's final months.

We reached out to the Department of Energy to ask how it evidenced Wright's statement. We also reached out to Biden administration Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Jigar Shah, who was at the time the head of the LPO, to ask if they could confirm the figure. We await replies to our queries.

Wright first made the claim during an interview (archived) with Blaze Media's Glenn Beck. Wright has since repeated the claim in an appearance on Fox Business (archived) and while testifying at the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 21, 2025.

Wright said during the May 21 hearing while speaking about the LPO (time code 37:43, our emphasis):

Christopher Wright: The Loan Programs Office is a key tool. We do need to make sure we have funding available in the Loan Programs Office because, used judiciously, it's a way to leverage private capital to make things happen fast. If your equity investors behind that debt are the six hyperscalers in the United States, they're great credit, the American taxpayers are going to be paid back. Alternatively, in the last administration — the Loan Programs Office in its 15-year history lent $43 billion —

Sen. Katie Britt: Wow.

CW: — In the 76 days since Election Day to Inauguration Day of the new President, the previous administration lent or committed $93 billion — two and a half times the 15-year total —

KB: You're kidding, tell me, tell me that time frame again?

CW: — 76 days from Election Day when the B — Biden lost the presidential election to President Trump's inauguration, in 76 days —

KB: That is absolute insanity.

CW: — they lent or committed $93 billion. So, there is a reason I'm moving slow and I'm doing evaluations of projects, yes, there's a very big reason.

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana repeated the claim to Wright later in that same hearing (starting around time code 1:38:25). Kennedy asked: "The people running the Department of Energy for President Biden's administration shoveled $93 billion, not million, $93 billion out the door in 76 days and it just happened to be the time between when President Trump was elected and President Biden, their boss, was leaving. Is that right?"

Breaking down the numbers

While we could not document loan or commitment announcements from the LPO between Nov. 5, 2024 and Jan. 20, 2025 totaling exactly $93 billion, our investigation did find that the office announced a flurry of new activity during this period.

During that period the office announced loan guarantees or conditional commitments to 23 new companies totaling $68,836,640,000, according to the LPO's own news releases.

The largest was a $15 billion loan guarantee to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E)'s Project Polaris, a portfolio of projects to expand hydropower in the company's service area. A loan guarantee is a promise by a third party (not the borrower or lender) to repay a loan if the borrower is not able.

According to usaspending.gov, between Nov. 5, 2024, and Jan. 20, 2025, the Department of Energy awarded 27 loans with a combined face value (the amount either lent directly or guaranteed) of $77,150,255,215. This number was likely higher because the LPO might not have publicly announced all the loans or guarantees it made on its website.

Though the higher loan total from USAspending.gov was in the ballpark of Wright's $93 billion — about $16 billion short — neither figure matched exactly. We await a reply from the LPO about the discrepancy between publicly available data and Wright's statement.

According to the Biden-era LPO itself, the office announced "53 deals totaling approximately $107.57 billion" during the Biden-Harris administration. According to usaspending.gov, the office made 27 of these commitments in its last three months. Therefore, while it was not possible to exactly match Wright's $93 billion figure, data shows the Biden administration did commit to around half the loans or guarantees made through the LPO in its last three months.

Then-Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm declared the office "open for business" in 2021, after it, according to reports citing Granholm, had been dormant during the first Trump administration.

Outlets like Politico, Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported in late 2024 that companies were rushing to finalize loan deals with the LPO amid uncertainty about what then President-elect Donald Trump would do with the office once in power.

Wright's $43 billion claim

Alongside his claim about $93 billion in loans given out in the final months of the Biden administration, Wright also claimed that this was "two and a half times the 15-year total" of $43 billion that the office had lent previously.

The LPO did likely lend or commit more than $43 billion during its last three months — as listed above, our estimates range up to around $77 billion during this period.

The office's website said in May 2025 that by September 2024 the LPO had financed "a $43.9 billion portfolio of innovative clean energy projects and advanced technology vehicle manufacturing facilities across the United States." This could be the figure Wright was referring to, though it would account for 19 years of the LPO's lifetime, not 15, as Wright had said. President George W. Bush founded the office in 2005, so a 15-year lifetime would only count up to 2020.

It was unclear whether "financed" on the LPO's website meant obligated or disbursed — and equally unclear whether Wright was referring to either or both of these terms when he said the LPO "lent" $43 billion. The LPO's own annual portfolio status report for fiscal year 2023 (Page 10) showed that the office has consistently obligated more than it has disbursed. For example, in FY23, the office had obligated nearly $40 billion in its lifetime, but disbursed nearly $35 billion.

By the end of March 2025, the LPO said on its website it had disbursed $47.3 billion in loans.

Ultimately, while it was uncertain where Wright got his figures from, it was clear that the Biden administration finalized a large number of the loans and commitments it made through the LPO after Election Day in November 2024, and that the value of these loans and commitments likely exceeded the office's previous lifetime cumulative total.

It remains uncertain what will happen to the $46.95 billion worth of active conditional commitments the LPO made under the Biden-Harris administration as Wright and the Trump Department of Energy turn their attention to the office. Wright said during the May 21 Senate appropriations hearing (time code 01:40:26): "Senator, the one complication in there too is, mixed in there, are good companies doing good things honestly with credible plans." Wright agreed that he was trying to "sort the wheat from the chaff." 

"That's our job and we're doing it," Wright said.

Sources:

Accelerating Portfolio Growth. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, https://www.energy.gov/lpo/articles/fy-2023-apsr-downloadable-pdf.

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FROM THE 413

— A disabled veteran is accusing a Holyoke city councilor of taking his home. Did he? by Greta Jochem, The Springfield Republican: “George Golderesi’s Springfield house sold to a new owner in February. It took him six weeks to find out. He said he believed a contractor hired to repair damage from a July 2024 fire was moving ahead with renovations so that Golderesi, a disabled veteran in his 50s, could return home. David K. Bartley, a Holyoke attorney and City Council member, orchestrated a sale of Golderesi’s Pinta Circle home. Golderesi says he did not want to sell — and wasn’t told someone else owned his home for more than a month.”

A disabled veteran is accusing a Holyoke city councilor of taking his home. Did he?

Greta Jochem

Sun, June 8, 2025

SPRINGFIELD — George Golderesi’s Springfield house sold to a new owner in February.

It took him six weeks to find out.

He said he believed a contractor hired to repair damage from a July 2024 fire was moving ahead with renovations so that Golderesi, a disabled veteran in his 50s, could return home.

David K. Bartley, a Holyoke attorney and City Council member, orchestrated a sale of Golderesi’s Pinta Circle home. Golderesi says he did not want to sell — and wasn’t told someone else owned his home for more than a month.

Bartley says that while the situation was unusual, he acted properly. “There’s nothing nefarious, immoral or illegal that happened,” Bartley said. “I’ve never committed fraud in my life.”

It took nearly two months for Golderesi to see any money from the sale — and only after a different attorney he had hired pressed Bartley for answers. That new attorney, John Tatoian, was so concerned about the transaction that he said he reported Bartley to the state Board of Bar Overseers, alleging misconduct. Golderesi said he was misled and cheated.

Bartley concedes Golderesi was not told for more than a month that the property was no longer his.

“So that’s, I’ll agree with you, that’s not a great look,” Bartley said. “Was this done perfectly? No. Sometimes that happens in real estate.”

Further, Bartley conceded to The Republican that the deed document he signed on Golderesi’s behalf was purposefully incorrect — saying the property was sold to a private trust for $285,000, when in fact no money was exchanged.

The story of the sale of 35 Pinta Circe is tangled and disputed. The Republican reached most of the key players in the situation who made their cases, and examined a paper trail of deeds and other legal documents for this report.

House condemned after fire

Let’s go back to the beginning.

In May 2020, Golderesi purchased a three-bedroom home in East Springfield for about $250,000. A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs program helped him buy the house, he said. Last year, he put it on the market, but decided he was not ready to sell.

In July 2024, a fire broke out at the house. The city fire department responded and investigated but never determined a cause. Because of damage, including a missing window, open ceiling and damaged electrical outlets, the city condemned the building; only construction workers were allowed inside to bring it back up to code.

Golderesi said that at a neighbor’s recommendation, he hired Worthington Construction, a company run by Anthony Matos, to repair fire damage. Both Bartley and Golderesi agreed that Matos, the owner of Worthington Construction, brought them together.

On Aug. 5, Golderesi signed a limited durable power of attorney giving Bartley the power to “do all things necessary” related to the property at 35 Pinta Circle. Bartley said it would violate attorney-client privilege to disclose why the document was needed, but he says Golderesi wanted to sell the house.

Golderesi said he told Bartley he suffered from a brain injury and didn’t want to sign the papers without his personal care assistant, Julia Stratton, who also often lives with him. She was out of town.

Golderesi said he was concerned if he didn’t sign the paperwork, it would delay the rehab of his house. So he signed them, but told The Republican that he didn’t understand what the papers meant. If he had understood it was a power of attorney form, “I would have never signed it,” he said.

“That’s completely untruthful,” Bartley said. He said Golderesi knew what he was signing.

At times during initial interviews with The Republican, Bartley said he was limited as to what he could say because of attorney-client privilege, which protects communication between a lawyer and client. At The Republican’s suggestion, Golderesi wrote and signed an agreement allowing Bartley to speak freely about him and the property on Pinta Circle.

More than 20 years ago, Matos was one of many people in the city arrested for involvement in a land-flipping scheme that involved derelict properties and low-income people. In 2006, Matos pled guilty to wire fraud charges and spent years in prison. Authorities estimated that the scheme cheated banks and homebuyers of $15 million, a Springfield Republican article at the time said.

Matos said he was young then, has changed and has not been in legal trouble since.

“This guy hired me to do the work and fix the damage that the insurance company paid for and that’s what I did,” Matos said.

But he has had trouble in civil court in recent years.

A construction supply company sued Matos and his company last year alleging he purchased supplies on credit that remained unpaid. Matos didn’t respond to the lawsuit and the court issued a judgement of $44,000 against him in November.

Today, a separate lawsuit against his company remains in arbitration. A Springfield woman alleges that after a fire destroyed her house on Prospect Street in 2022, she hired Matos to rebuild it. She paid $400,000, which she alleges he urged her pay in cash. The house was not finished by the contracted deadline, the lawsuit claims.

“The only services rendered to date consist of rough framing and a roof,” says the complaint, filed in May 2023. The plaintiff was stuck living in a studio apartment with her two sons. In his legal response, Matos admits the woman paid him but denies her allegations.

Earlier this year, in a third lawsuit, the court issued a $20,000 judgement against him after a building supply company sued over unpaid debts.

Inside the paperwork

The same day Golderesi signed the power of attorney form, he also signed a purchase and sale agreement for his house. He said it was one of the documents he didn’t understand. The agreement stipulated a contract to sell the property to an entity called Empire One Investments LLC, or that company’s designee, for $285,000.

In corporate filings with the state, Bartley is listed as the secretary and a director of Empire One Investments.

When first asked about the extent of his involvement in the Empire One, Bartley said the company’s mail just comes to his office. Soon after, Bartley ended the phone conversation with a reporter.

Bartley called The Republican back that afternoon. “I just didn’t recall it,” he said of being identified in official state paperwork as a director of the company. He insisted that his involvement in the company — whose president is listed as John Friberg Jr. — is limited.

“This is a case where I was asked to help out clients and I did it to the best of my ability,” Bartley said. “I can assure you I made no money on this. It was not nefarious.”

The purchase and sale agreement also lists Bartley as the buyer’s attorney. He said he isn’t sure if there were ethical issues for an attorney to be on both ends of the deal. “I guess I’ll leave that for somebody smarter than me,” Bartley said. “I’d have to think about that one. That’s a fair question.”

An attorney can represent both sides of a property transaction if there is consent from both parties, according to Jeremy Paul, a professor and former dean at Northeastern University School of Law.

To owner’s surprise, house is sold

After the fire left 35 Pinta Circle condemned, Golderesi and Stratton said they bounced around hotels while waiting for the contractors to finish their work. They said they expected to move back into the house.

In February, when repairs were complete, the city lifted the condemnation and filed court paperwork to dismiss the case. Housing court records show that after the power of attorney form was signed, Bartley signed court documents on Golderesi’s behalf.

Ten days after the housing court case was cleared, the property changed hands, at least on paper.

Bartley signed a quitclaim deed — a simple document that transfers property between parties — on behalf of Golderesi as his power of attorney, purportedly selling the house for $285,000 to 35 Pinta Circle Realty Trust. It was notarized by Marc J. Hickey. In a text message to Tatoian, Bartley said Hickey was his assistant. When The Republican asked Bartley, he said Hickey has never worked for him and is a friend.

Efforts to reach Hickey were not successful.

Jason Vazquez is listed on the deed as the sole trustee of 35 Pinta Circle Realty Trust.

A document filed with the Hampden County Registry of Deeds says he has authorization to buy and sell properties for the trust and its beneficiaries. He could not be located for an interview.

The purchase and sale agreement Golderesi signed in August 2024 was to sell to Empire or its designee, and the trust is the designee, Bartley said. Bartley said he doesn’t “to my knowledge” believe he is involved in the private trust.

Golderesi was not notified about the sale, Bartley said. “First of all, George never reached out to me.” He said George was “completely incommunicado.”

But, Golderesi had been in touch with the contractor. Texts between him and Matos show that Golderesi had contacted Matos in January and late February, both before and after the sale. The Republican reviewed those messages.

In late March, Golderesi said he believed his home was still being fixed and he went to the house looking for mail, he said. He noticed someone inside and called the police to report a break-in.

“Caller states he hears a female voice inside his house,” the 911 narrative reads. “Caller is outside … states whoever it is turned the lights off.” A police spokesperson said an officer responded to the call, but no formal report was filed about it.

Stratton, Golderesi’s personal care assistant, said she went in search of answers.

She called the city water department to check on the status of the property’s account and was told it was no longer in Golderesi’s name — and that the property had sold.

“It was devastating,” she said.

Mortgage remained unpaid

Once he learned it had been sold, Golderesi hired Tatoian, the attorney, who contacted Bartley in April.

After hearing from Tatoian, Bartley sent Tatoian a settlement statement signed in February that summarizes the purported finances of the sale. Tatoian provided a copy of the document to The Republican.

The document, signed by Bartley on Golderesi’s behalf, said Golderesi was owed $43,000. In the years Golderesi owned it, he built up equity in the property.

The document also said that the mortgage was paid. That was not true.

Tatoian said he spoke with Golderesi’s lender, Navy Federal Credit Union, which told him the mortgage had not been paid off. The bank did not respond to The Republican’s requests for comment.

Tatoian said the numbers on the settlement were incorrect. “He’s right,” Bartley said. “I agree with him.” Bartley said the mortgage was not paid off then for valid business reasons.

After Tatoian spoke with Bartley, Golderesi was paid back about $40,000. By late April, Golderesi was released from his mortgage with the credit union, documentation filed with the Hampden County Registry of Deeds shows.

The quitclaim deed filed in February allegedly without Golderesi’s knowledge said that the property was transferred for $285,000. When The Republican first asked Bartley where the $285,000 went in the nearly two-month period between the property transfer in February and April when Tatoian got involved, Bartley declined to comment.

About a week later, when pressed, Bartley said that no money was paid.

“There was no money transferred whatsoever,” Bartley said. That’s despite the deed saying it was transferred for $285,000 to a trust, and an addendum on the document that said Bartley swore to the notary it was accurate.

The house-flipping plan

Bartley told The Republican that the plan was to sell the house and that the contractor and Empire One Investments would be the ones to benefit from it.

Bartley insisted he would not reap any of that profit and that he often works with house flippers.

Bartley said after selling the house to an outside party, the mortgage and Golderesi would be paid. The plan went awry when they didn’t immediately find a third party to buy it. Bartley made those comments in late May after The Republican had spoken to Matos earlier in the month. The Republican tried several times to follow-up with Matos to ask about the plan Bartley laid out, and he had not responded as of Friday.

“In a best practice world it would have been one step after the other,” Bartley said with a sigh, “except all this stuff moved too fast and here we are. This is an unusual situation for me.”

Bartley said he executed a quitclaim deed transfer once the house was no longer condemned to get the property out of Golderesi’s control. “It was my opinion he wasn’t in a great position to hold on to any money,” Bartley said of Golderesi. He declined to elaborate.

Bartley said he didn’t want to list the sale for $1, because he worried it would “raise an alarm for the third-party buyer.” So he signed the quitclaim deed for $285,000. That was the amount listed on the purchase and sale agreement signed in early August, one of the documents Golderesi says he didn’t understand.

After being confronted by Tatoian, Bartley said he personally paid Golderesi and settled his mortgage, and will be made whole when a third party buys the property. “The real loser of this has been me,” he said.

Golderesi was paid on April 11, Tatoian said. On April 14, the house was transferred to another private trust — Pinta Empire Realty Trust — for $305,000. The trustee is listed as Jenal Rentas. Rentas owns Extremely Clean Construction and Design, a Springfield-based business that does home improvement, construction and remodeling.

Rentas said he was a manager of the trust. “I know nothing, I’m just a manager on the account,” he said in early June. “I can’t disclose any information.” He told The Republican to contact Matos, who has not responded to follow-up inquiries.

When asked about the price listed on the quitclaim deed – $305,000 – and who owns the property now, Rentas said he didn’t know and hung up.

When property is transferred to or from a trust, those involved usually file a document that certifies a trustee, essentially someone who manages the trust, said Laura Marino, Land Court technical assistant at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds.

“Trusts are not required to be recorded with our office,” Marino said in an email. “Many people do not record Trusts because they want the terms to remain private.”

Complaint to Board of Bar Overseers

Tatoian said he submitted a complaint last month to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers about Bartley’s conduct, accusing him of violating the state’s rules of professional conduct for attorneys and a federal law on making false statements.

Bartley has long been the Ward 3 city councilor. He has not yet taken out papers to run again for office in the fall. The deadline to return nomination papers is July 29. Several other people took out papers to run in his ward.

Tatoian said he was recently notified by the Board of Bar Overseers that it was investigating.

Bartley said he had no knowledge of any inquiry.

A spokesperson for the board said that by law, it can’t comment on any complaints unless an investigation yields a public proceeding and discipline.

Bartley remains listed on the bar’s website as an active attorney with no public discipline.

Read the original article on MassLive.

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— Worcester had 16 homicides in 2024. This year so far: 0 by Craig S. Semon, Telegram & Gazette: “As the city begins the second week of June, Worcester can boast something that it couldn’t this time last year: no homicides so far this year. This time last year, Worcester had seven homicides, six of which were from firearms, Chief Paul Saucier said. … Although no one can know why there have been no homicides in the city this year so far, [Worcester Police Chief] Saucier said he thinks several Worcester Police Department outreach programs have contributed to the drop.”

— Beverly weighs challenges this budget season, and beyond by Carline Enos, The Salem News: “The City Council is weighing a $173.7 million budget for fiscal 2026, a 4.7% increase of $7.7 million over last year’s budget. The proposed budget includes $85 million for schools, a 9.1% increase from the previous year.”

— Town Meeting calls on state legislature to allow real estate transfer fee by Sam Mintz and Vivi Smilgius, Brookline.News: “Brookline will ask the state legislature to allow the town to enact a real estate transfer fee, after Town Meeting voted this week in favor of a home rule petition. … The petition , led by Town Meeting member Alec Lebovitz, is not binding but lays out the loose parameters of what the policy would look like in Brookline if approved by the state legislature. Town Meeting would need to approve the specific, final details in a future vote.”

— Will Easton voters OK override to avoid dozens of layoffs? Tax impact? by Chris Helms, The Brockton Enterprise: “Will Easton voters raise the town’s taxing power by $7.3 million or accept service cuts? That’s one way to see the bottom line as voting on an operational override ends Tuesday, June 10. Those urging a ‘yes’ vote say Easton’s government is caught between inflation-driven cost increases and falling state aid for education. Cost drivers include health insurance for active and retired town employees, pension liabilities, property insurance premiums and utilities. On the revenue side, Easton is one of the state’s ‘minimum aid districts.’ The upshot of that designation is that local taxes have been paying an increasing share of school costs.”

PAY WALL

— Steamship Authority considering freight service between New Bedford and Nantucket by Grace Ferguson, The New Bedford Light: “A Cape Cod construction company is proposing a new freight service between New Bedford and Nantucket. The proposed service would carry recyclables, tires, construction equipment, and other materials two to three days a week, using freight boats that the company bought from the Steamship Authority last year. It would use Steamship Authority dock space for loading and unloading.”

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former state Rep. Lori Ehrlich, Sheila Ramirez, Jeff Solnet, John Dukakis, 90 West’s Harry Shipps and Kelsey Perkins, district director for Rep. Katherine Clark and Ray Salazar of Rep. Katherine Clark’s office.

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.

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