Congratulations to more than one thousand physicians across Mass General Brigham, representing diverse specialties and entities, recognized as 2026 Top Doctors.
It was a heck of a week for Robert Kraft. He started off with his New England Patriots punching their ticket to the Super Bowl, then went on to stop by the State House for Holocaust Remembrance Day, and then it was off to D.C. to hang out with President Trump at the premiere of the documentary “Melania.”
The week ended with Trump’s Department of Justice dumping a tranche of emails and other documents – collectively called the Jeffrey Epstein files – that included mentions of the multibillionaire. As noted by multiple news outlets, the files involve Epstein’s private correspondence and unverified submissions to the FBI, and they are “not a sign of wrongdoing or association with Epstein’s crimes,” according to NPR. Other outlets like Vox have recommended caution in public digestion of what’s in them.
The exchanges were about Kraft, not with him: Charges from 2019 against Kraft, who was accused of paying for sex acts in Florida, sparked emails and texts between Epstein, attorneys and others in the aftermath. One appeared to show Epstein writing to his former attorney Jack Goldberger that he was trying to “have [Kraft] hire you,” after Goldberger said Kraft’s charges should “take local news away from us.”
After hiring Goldberger and William Burck, Kraft publicly apologized and the charges were later dropped. But the DOJ’s release, required by a bipartisan law, dredged it up again and splashed it all over social media as the Patriots geared up for their faceoff against the Seattle Seahawks. A text exchange between Epstein and someone identified as just “Jack,” in talking about the Kraft case, referred to former Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley. “Jack” claimed Conley, a “Boston guy,” was trying to “weasel in” on the Kraft case.
Conley told MASSterList his recollection is that Kraft reached out to his longtime attorney Robert Popeo after Kraft was charged in 2019. Popeo, who died in 2023, asked Conley as a former prosecutor to join a conference call. “I can’t go into the details of those calls, but I was on those calls and Mr. Kraft ultimately decided to go with other counsel to represent him in Palm Beach County,” Conley said. “Nobody was trying to weasel their way into representation.”
Kraft and Conley weren’t the only local folks caught up in the DOJ’s dump of searchable files onto the Internet: A lengthy 2019 email to Epstein from longtime Massachusetts political operative Jim McGee was also included.
McGee offered up his services and spent much of it focused on the politics of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which his firm, Newgrange Consulting Group, had as an account. He also boasted about working for multiple Bay State elected officials, and claimed he elected Maura Healey, the future governor, as attorney general in 2014.
The Boston Herald jumped on the email, but noted it wasn’t clear if McGee landed any work as a result of that particular pitch. McGee could not be reached for comment. Newgrange had previously worked with Epstein on political issues in the Maldives, according to the DOJ files.
Healey’s campaign, which hasn’t reported any payments to Newgrange since 2015, said the actions of Epstein and “everyone who enabled him” were “absolutely disgusting and abhorrent.”
“The Healey Committee employed a different member of this individual’s firm more than a decade ago and has no relationship with them now,” the spokesperson said. “It is unacceptable for anyone to misrepresent their connection with her to try to win the business of a known child sex predator.“
The ripple effects of the Epstein files have continued in Congress, too. What two Massachusetts lawmakers recently voted to hold Bill Clinton in contempt for defying a Congressional subpoena? (Both the former president and Hillary Clinton have since agreed to testify, per NYT last night.) Email your answers here: [email protected].
Mass is losing students, jobs, and families. Here’s the fix.
HAPPENING TODAY
9:30 | Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah visits Cape Cod behavioral health care providers alongside Sen. Julian Cyr at a behavioral health care roundtable. | Cape Cod Technical High School, 351 Pleasant Lake Ave, Harwich
10:00 | Transportation for Massachusetts joins MassBike, Families for Safe Streets, Safe Roads Alliance and others for a briefing in support of bills (H 3754 / S 2344) aimed at making roads safer. The bills would allow cities and towns to install safety cameras for red lights, work zones, school zones and speeding. Speakers include Sen. William Brownsberger, Rep. Steven Owens, Somerville Mayor Jake Wilson and Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier. | Room 428, State House, Boston | RSVP and More Info
10:15 | Gov. Maura Healey hosts a delegation from Denmark to sign a new agreement to strengthen scientific, technological and commercial ties between Massachusetts and Denmark. Healey is joined by Denmark ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, Economic Development secretary Eric Paley and members of the Danish delegation as well as other state and local officials. | Room 157, State House, Boston
1:00 | The "Legalize Starter Homes" coalition holds a press conference to outline how the proposed ballot measure would make an impact on the housing crisis. Attendees include chair of the campaign Andrew Mikula, Abundant Housing Massachusetts Executive Director Jesse Kanson-Benanav, Barrett Planning Group LLC President Judi Barrett and Sen. Jamie Eldridge. | Outside of the State House, Boston
2:30 | The Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight holds a hearing. Commissioners will hear testimony from invited guests on MassDOT’s Request for Proposals for a service plaza operator. | Room B-1, State House, Boston | Virtual Access and More Info
MASSterList Job Board |
|---|
Division Chief — NEW!, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General |
Special Assistant — NEW!, Office of Congressman Seth Moulton |
Select Board Executive Assistant — NEW!, Town of Southborough |
Administrative & Operations Associate, Providers’ Council |
Comptroller, Massachusetts Association of Approved Special Education Schools |
Training Program Coordinator: MA Legal Aid and Community Education Project (LACE), Massachusetts Law Reform Institute |
Executive Director, Center for Health Information and Analysis, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General |
Controller, Commonwealth Corporation |
Jobs continue below the fold — post a job
FROM BEACON HILL
FEDERAL ABUSE: Senators wrote to Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell asking them to be ready for Massachusetts to prosecute federal officials abusing their authority. The letter comes as federal immigration officials have killed people in Minnesota and flouted court orders. – State House News Service
DEADLINE CHANGE: As part of her fiscal 2027 budget proposal, Gov. Maura Healey is seeking the elimination of a 15-year deadline on rape prosecutions which involve a DNA match. Current law bars rape prosecutions for older cases, but many states allow for more time. – WBUR
NEWS NEXT DOOR
PROTECTED STATUS: A federal judge put a temporary block on the Trump administration’s move to eliminate temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians. “Plaintiffs charge that Secretary [Kristi] Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely,” the judge wrote, pointing to a social media post in December from Noem. – GBH News
BOSTON PUBLIC MARKET CEO: A top campaign aide to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is the new CEO at Boston Public Market. Julia Leja will succeed Cheryl Cronin, who led the nonprofit market for a decade. – Boston Business Journal
PENSION PLAY: The state’s Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission is ordering Quincy’s retirement board to rescind a vote that placed a city hall security guard into a pension group for police officers and firefighters. – Patriot Ledger
DEPARTURE LOUNGE: The cost of housing and day care is driving people out of Massachusetts, an informal survey shows. – MassLive
RED TAPE REFORMS: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said City Hall plans reforms to permitting by moving applications online and simplifying the process, particularly for small businesses. – Boston Herald
MORE HEADLINES
JOB BOARD
Do you have an open job you'd like to feature here? Click here to place a job board order, or email Dylan Rossiter at [email protected].
Director of Administration & Finance, Pioneer Institute
Senior Investigator, ISAU, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Controller, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Director of Preliminary Investigations, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
Chief Planner, City of Newton
Director of Policy and Program Operations, Massachusetts Association for Mental Health
