The Massachusetts Senate could officially move forward this week with an independent investigation into allegations that the husband of the chamber's leader, Stan Rosenberg, sexually assaulted four men.
The investigation would also examine whether Rosenberg's husband, Bryon Hefner, wielded influence in shaping policy on Beacon Hill.
Late Monday morning, Rosenberg agreed to step aside temporarily from his role as Senate President while an investigation takes place. Before that news broke, Matt Murphy of the State House News Service told NEPR what we might expect to see unfold.
Matt Murphy, State House News Service: Yeah, so there is a lot planned this [Monday] morning and moving into the afternoon -- but exactly what is going to happen we don't know. The Democrats plan to caucus this morning, as do the Republicans, separately.
And then there's a joint caucus also planned, where the 40 senators, or as many as show up today, are expected to discuss the greenlighting of an independent investigation into the allegations that Senator [Stan] Rosenberg's husband sexually assaulted and harassed several -- four -- men who made these accusations in The Boston Globe last week.
Carrie Healy, NEPR: This is really about three types of allegations: one is sexual misconduct; two is whether Bryon Hefner held sway over policy, despite Rosenberg's previous promise otherwise; and three -- whether that influence helped keep these allegations hidden. Will the investigation focus on all three of those?
Yeah, we spoke last week with Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, who said that they're going to focus on all of the above, all of the allegations.
But you know, while they may have an open door policy for people who want to come forward and talk about sexual harassment, or anything that Bryon Hefner may have done over the course of the past several years, it appears that their investigation will focus largely on the Senate aspect -- whether or not he had any interference, any involvement in Senate business.
The Senate president adamantly denies this. He said on Friday that he believes the investigation will show that.
But whether or not [Hefner] was out there portraying himself to have influence over his husband, the Senate president, and the rest of the Senate, is a serious concern to the senators, and is likely where they're going to focus a lot of their time on this investigation.
This controversy started with a Boston Globe article full of anonymous sources. And MassLive reported Hefner texted another anonymous man an unsolicited photo of genitalia. It's not like these reporters are going to reveal their sources. Will this investigator have much to go on?
You could see this investigator, whoever it may be -- an independent investigator, potentially a lawyer, or as we've seen in other cases, not related sexual harassment, but other investigations -- people have been brought in, [and] given subpoena power. It would probably be unlikely that they will press a journalist to reveal who these people are, but they may try and make it a welcoming environment for people to come forward if they want to.
We do know that some people are also calling for the Attorney General, or some other investigative body, to kind of open a second look into this. As we spoke about, the Senate focusing on Senate interference and Senate business, a more criminal investigation could be launched. But until these people feel comfortable coming forward publicly, it's hard to see where that might go.
Over the weekend, your team reported that a handful of Democratic senators may be positioning themselves for a run for Senate president. And the hometown newspaper in Amherst -- The Daily Hampshire Gazette, where Rosenberg lives -- editorialized that he should temporarily step aside during this investigation. Is it likely he'll give up his job?
This is the big unknown moving into today. We heard last night from the Senate president's office that he has no plans to step aside, and he will also have no involvement in today's deliberations, or the vote.
We do know that Senator Barbara L'Italien, the Andover Democrat who also happens to be running for Congress, became the first of his party to come out later on Friday -- after he held his press conference -- to call on him to step aside while this investigation takes place.
And it's our understanding, based on talking with senators and sources in the building, that she is not alone, and that others may be on her side, believing that he should either step aside while this investigation takes place, or it might be the best thing for the Senate for him to just resign the presidency itself, and let a new leader to be elected.
And it is also our understanding that some senators have been trying to see where they stand in a potential race to become his successor.
