BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo continued to face the fallout of recent ethics investigations into US Attorney Rachael Rollins Friday, standing his ground as some call for his resignation.
Speaking to reporters, Arroyo said recent attacks on him are political. He continued, saying while Rollins actions were unethical and that she should resign, he does not plan to step down from his job.
“I’m not resigning,” he said inside City Hall. “I’m not resigning.”
Rollins, who resigned as U.S. Attorney on Friday afternoon, previously served as the Suffolk County District Attorney. Her appointment as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts then prompted a race for the DA position.
Arroyo’s 2022 campaign for the role was a major part of the investigations into Rollins, which generated a pair of reports from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. In its report this week, the Department of Justice said Rollins and Arroyo exchanged text messages about the campaign.
US attorneys are supposed to stay out of politics. The text messages, though, showed Arroyo talking with Rollins about how it would be helpful if his opponent, Kevin Hayden, came under investigation.
Hayden ultimately won the race.
Months later, as Rollins prepared to resign this week, Boston City Councilor At-Large Erin Murphy was among those saying Arroyo should himself think about resigning.
Arroyo spoke to 7NEWS on Thursday outside his Hyde Park home, saying the DOJ’s report supports his statement that he did nothing wrong.
“The report was very clear that I never asked her to do those things and I never knew that these things were happening,” Arroyo said.
“My request was whether or not there was any actually being done or whether there was any announcements coming,” he said of possible investigations in separate comments on Friday. “I never once pressured her to conduct an investigation. I never asked her to leak anything about an investigation. I didn’t even have that information.”
Where Murphy has called for Arroyo to resign, City Council President Ed Flynn would not go that far on Friday.
“But I do think that it is important for Councilor Arroyo to acknowledge these accusations, serious accusations, and have a discussion with his constituents and the residents and his colleagues,” Flynn said.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu also weighed in, saying voters should decide whether Arroyo needs to go.
“For elected officials, our number one source of accountability is being on the ballot and putting our views and commitments and positions out to the public,” she said. “That is the democratic process.”
Arroyo said he had not spoken to Rollins since reports came out as of Thursday night. But he said he is disappointed with the findings.
“Rachael is somebody who was a deep and personal friend, still is,” he said. “Somebody who I have spoken to and known prior to elected office. Somebody who I have had many conversations with about my life, my career and things in between.”
“When it comes to the accusations before her, I find them incredibly sad and I think that the outcome is incredibly sad,” he continued.
Arroyo said he was a victim of leaks during the DA campaign. As a result, he said he would never encourage or cause leaks on his opponent.
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