Inspector General’s Report Includes Rachael Rollins’ Comments on the Howie Carr Show
Howie “Radio Host” Carr thought it was a great interview. But, he supposes, that’s the problem.
In case you missed Rollins’ impromptu interview on Ernest “Yo Pesci” Johnson from last December, you can check it out here:
The call received quite the criticism in Rollins’ investigation of alleged misconduct. Below are four pages from the Office of the Inspector General detailing the now-resigned MA U.S. Attorney’s comments:
On December 19, 2022, Rollins called a live local radio show hosted by a longtime radio host (Radio Host), who is also a Boston Herald columnist, and discussed the upcoming federal sentencing of defendant Ernest Johnson. Johnson was a co-conspirator in a drug trafficking organization, led by Vincent Caruso, that the MA USAO was prosecuting, and Johnson pleaded guilty in May 2022 to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Pursuant to the terms of Rollins’s Ethics Agreement, Rollins was recused from the prosecution of Caruso and his co-defendants, including Johnson, because of her prior work as Suffolk D.A.
An Investigation of Alleged Misconduct by
United States Attorney Rachael Rollins, Office of the Inspector General (136)
Rollins later talked specifically about Johnson, calling him by his alias and referencing his internet persona.
An Investigation of Alleged Misconduct by
United States Attorney Rachael Rollins, Office of the Inspector General (137)
When questioned by the OIG about making public comments concerning a case from which she was recused, Rollins told us that she was not aware that she was recused from the Johnson case when she called the radio show. Rollins stated—and the OIG confirmed—that Rollins’s recusal list, which the Office of the Deputy Attorney General authorized, does not contain Johnson’s name; rather it contains the MA USAO case number and the name of Vincent Caruso—the leader of the drug trafficking organization—and another co-conspirator.
An Investigation of Alleged Misconduct by
United States Attorney Rachael Rollins, Office of the Inspector General (138)
Nevertheless, we found that Rollins’s explanation that she was unfamiliar with both Johnson and his criminal case only underscores her poor decision-making and judgment in this situation: Rollins impulsively decided to call a live radio show to publicly discuss a case pending sentencing that, in her own words, she did not “know anything about…aside from what [she] read in the [Radio Host’s] article.”
An Investigation of Alleged Misconduct by
United States Attorney Rachael Rollins, Office of the Inspector General (139)
