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Trump’s pick for top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts will crackdown on illegal immigration – The Boston Globe

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Trump’s pick for top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts will crackdown on illegal immigration – The Boston Globe


The country’s 94 US attorneys are political appointees who historically step down following a change in administration from one political party to another. That usually leaves the first assistant US attorney to lead the office until the president’s nominee passes an intensive background check and is confirmed by the Senate. Local observers say Trump appears to be moving faster.

“I’d expect a short window of time for the Trump administration to act on these positions,” said Boston attorney Brian T. Kelly, a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP and former federal prosecutor who headed the public corruption unit. “It’s different this time because he is focusing on appointments across the board because his victory was so clear cut. … He also now has experience with the federal bureaucracy and realizes that these things take time to get approved so he’s got to act quickly.”

The US attorney for Massachusetts oversees about 200 attorneys, paralegals, and other staff in offices in Boston, Springfield, and Worcester.

Kelly, a Republican, has been mentioned in legal and political circles as a contender for the US attorney job under Trump, but declined to say if he is vying for it other than to say, “Anyone would be honored to be considered.”

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Kelly represented Trump in a civil case brought earlier this year by a group that unsuccessfully tried to remove him from the Republican presidential primary ballot in Massachusetts. The case was part of a national effort to remove Trump from ballots, claiming he was ineligible to serve because of his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, an argument that was unanimously rejected by the US Supreme Court.

Others being touted as possible nominees are Andrew Lelling, who served as US attorney for Massachusetts during Trump’s first term and is a partner at Jones Day; Assistant US Attorney Leah B. Foley, who was a finalist for the job when it went to Lelling and is deputy chief of the narcotics and money laundering unit; Robert Fisher, a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP and former federal prosecutor; and Nathaniel Mendell, a partner at Morrison Foerster who was Lelling’s first assistant and led the office for 10 months before Rachael Rollins was sworn in in January 2022 following a contentious, partisan battle for confirmation.

They all declined to comment on whether they are seeking the job.

Fisher did say he thinks Trump will tap “someone known to one of the advisers who has his ear” or has ties to his transition team.

“What he’s looking for is obviously a conservative who is aggressive on the type of crime they’re looking to target: guns, drugs, and illegal immigration,” Fisher said.

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Trump has specifically vowed to make a crackdown on illegal immigration a top priority.

Carmen Ortiz, who served as US attorney for Massachusetts from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration and resigned a week before Trump’s first inauguration, predicted the president-elect’s administration will aggressively crack down on all types of immigration cases in Massachusetts because it is home to a number of sanctuary cities. Moreover, some local political leaders, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, have said they won’t assist federal law enforcement in any mass deportation efforts, leading to early public verbal exchanges with Trump’s advisers.

“I think they are planning to do as much as they can to send a message on day one,” Ortiz said. “They want to send a message with very aggressive enforcement initiatives.”

Ortiz said that would likely include prosecuting people who are in the country illegally, even if they have not committed crimes; prioritizing immigration fraud, and possibly conducting raids on work sites. As a result, she predicted the US attorney’s office will be tasked with pursuing more criminal cases connected to illegal immigrants, and also with defending the Trump administration in civil cases if it pursues its pledge to conduct mass deportations.

Mendell, who led the US attorney’s office before Rollins took over, agreed that immigration would be a core issue during Trump’s second term, but said, “The emphasis will be people who are here illegally who also have serious criminal records and have been previously deported.”

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He also predicted Trump’s attorney general will direct prosecutors to seek harsher penalties for defendants in some cases than those recommended under the Biden administration.

“Violent crimes will be approached differently, more aggressively,” Mendell said.

B. Stephanie Siegmann, a partner at Hinckley Allen and former federal prosecutor who served as chief of the national security unit in the Massachusetts US attorney’s office until 2022, predicted the Trump administration will make national security threats from China, Russia, and Iran a higher priority.

“There has been a coordination in alliances between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea that are of grave concern,” Siegmann said. “We face unprecedented national security threats from those countries.”

Siegmann said a national strike force launched by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in February 2023 to prevent China and other nationstate adversaries from stealing advanced technology from the United States will likely be expanded upon under Trump.

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The next US attorney for Massachusetts will inherit an office that was thrown into tumult during the Biden administration while Rollins, the progressive former Suffolk district attorney, was at the helm. She resigned in May 2023 amid two blistering reports by the Justice Department’s Inspector General and the US Office of Special Counsel, which found she committed a series of flagrant ethics violations, including engaging in partisan political activity while on duty.

Joshua S. Levy, who was Rollins’s second-in-command, has been running the office as acting US attorney since May 2023. Biden nominated him for US attorney in October 2023, but a confirmation vote was blocked in the Senate by Vice President-elect JD Vance. On Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Levy to the position of US attorney, but he will be required to step down in mid-January when his interim appointment expires.

Just over a week after winning the election, Trump announced he would nominate Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange commission to serve as US attorney for the Southern District of New York, which oversees Manhattan. He has also nominated former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to lead the Department of Justice.


Shelley Murphy can be reached at shelley.murphy@globe.com. Follow her @shelleymurph.

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Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit

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Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit


Twenty-eight lawmakers dissented Wednesday as the Massachusetts House voted to set new terms around what state Auditor Diana DiZoglio would be able to review in the legislative audit voters authorized her to carry out in 2024.

Almost all House Democrats voted for the measure, which also proposes to make more state government records accessible to the public. Three Democrats — Cambridge Rep. Mike Connolly, Attleboro Rep. Jim Hawkins and Fall River Rep. Alan Silvia — joined the body’s 25 Republicans in voting no.

Speaker Ron Mariano said the bill responds to an ongoing call from voters for more transparency out of Beacon Hill and provides a path forward in lieu of a what he called “politically motivated audit conducted in violation of the Constitution.”

Leaders of the House and Senate have resisted DiZoglio’s audit push, arguing that a probe by the auditor’s office would run afoul of the separation of powers laid out in the state Constitution, bringing the legislative branch under the review of a piece of the executive branch.

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“We are not accountable to any constitutional officer,” said Rep. Mindy Domb, an Amherst Democrat. “We are only accountable to our constituents.”

Taunton Rep. Lisa Field, a Democrat in her first term, said she was among the 72% of Massachusetts voters who backed the audit ballot question in 2024.

“Due to legitimate concerns and questions about constitutional privileges and separation of powers, we have been stuck on this audit issue for more than a year,” Field said. “Let’s not be like Washington, D.C. and accept such gridlock — not about the audit and not about public records. Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good progress.”

The House’s bill would authorize DiZoglio to review what it defines as the “administrative functions” of the Legislature, going back to the 2021 fiscal year. Those areas include the adoption of annual budgets, official audits of the House and Senate by independent firms, spending by both chambers, and the execution of any financial settlements with lawmakers and employees.

It would also newly apply the state’s public records law to the governor’s office, and create a process by which people could request and receive certain legislative files.

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Massachusetts is currently the only state where the Legislature, governor and judiciary all claim to be exempt from the public records law.

Warren Republican Rep. Todd Smola described the process that led up to Wednesday’s vote as opaque in and of itself. Mariano last week said the House would take up what he called comprehensive transparency legislation, but did not say when or what, specifically, the bill would do.

The bill was circulated to members of the House Ways and Means Committee around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, and committee members had a little over a half hour to vote on whether to advance it. Smola, the ranking Republican on the committee, said during that 34-minute window, “we had members on both sides of the political aisle that were calling each other back and forth to say, ‘Can you explain this portion to me?’”

“We are so much better than the process that has unfolded,” he said. “And for the sake of people that are asking us for transparency, that is not transparency. That’s the opposite of transparency.”

Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican, said he was particularly concerned with a part of the bill that removes the courts from settling disputes between the auditor and the Legislature.

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He said that by setting its own rules around an audit, the House would be “ensuring the auditor can only see exactly what we allow her to see and nothing more.”

It’s not clear yet if the Senate will pass the bill. Last week, state senators voted to turn over a limited set of documents to DiZoglio. The documents the Senate plans to provide mirror the records she would be allowed to review under the House bill.

Asked if he expected the Senate to agree to the legislation, Mariano on Tuesday said only, “I talked to the Senate.”



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French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston

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French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston


BOSTON, MA — An international restaurant group with locations across the globe is preparing to open its first Massachusetts restaurant this year.

LPM Restaurant & Bar, a French Riviera-inspired restaurant founded in London, is set to open on the second floor of the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street in Back Bay, according to Four Seasons. The hotel lists the restaurant as “Opening Summer 2026,” while the Boston Business Journal reported the restaurant plans to open in September.

The Boston restaurant will mark LPM’s debut in the Northeast and its third U.S. outpost, following locations in Miami and Las Vegas, according to a Four Seasons announcement.

LPM, also known as La Petite Maison, was founded in London in 2007 and is known for French-Mediterranean food, Mediterranean ingredients and dining rooms influenced by Belle Époque design.

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The business operates locations in London, Dubai, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Limassol, Doha, Mykonos, Kuwait, Boston, Maldives and Bangkok.

Four Seasons said LPM will take over the space that formerly housed One Dalton’s breakfast concept, One + One. The restaurant will join other dining options at the hotel, including Zuma and Trifecta.

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Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer

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Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer


A Massachusetts high school is under investigation after “several” teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions.

The state Department of Public Health is set to visit Uxbridge High School on Thursday to “conduct a series of air quality tests,” to determine whether the multiple cases are potentially connected.

Superintendent David Ljungberg and Principal Michael Rubin alerted families and district staff on Monday of the “sombering news,” after Uxbridge High School’s graduation over the weekend.

“We are writing to inform you about a concern we are investigating at Uxbridge High School,” Ljungberg and Rubin stated in the letter. “Several female teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions over the past few years.”

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“It is, of course, possible that these multiple cases are not connected to one another,” the leaders added, “but out of abundance of caution, we are looking into any environmental factors at the school that may be a factor in their diagnoses.”

The 123,000-square-foot school, with an enrollment of roughly 600, was constructed in 2012 at a cost of $45 million, including a $22-million state reimbursement.

Uxbridge school leaders say they notified the state Department of Health and local health board as soon as they became aware of the cases, seeking “counsel about how best to proceed.”

“Massachusetts DPH officials have indicated that there is no evidence of immediate danger in the building and no reason to limit access to or use of the facility at this time,” they wrote in their letter. “In fact, the public health officials have commended our decision to approach them with these concerns, our readiness to partner with them in support of the evaluation process.”

Health officials are assessing the school’s interior and exterior to “ensure there are no issues with the infrastructure that would present risks (including electrical, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems)” and the indoor and outdoor air quality on campus.

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The superintendent and principal said that state officials have ruled out water supply as a “risk factor” after “thorough testing.”

“The team has reached out to the women who have been diagnosed, requesting data to evaluate whether there may be a connection among their cases,” Ljungberg and Rubin wrote. “We are grateful for their cooperation.”

They added that the state has said discovering an environmental “smoking gun” is “rare” in workplace investigations.

“However, even if a direct causal link is not established,” the leaders wrote, “the administration is utilizing this process to rigorously test the building and guarantee that it meets all safety standards moving forward.”

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