Overview:
The future of the legislative audit law in Massachusetts is still uncertain as Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Auditor Diana DiZoglio continue to clash over the process. Campbell has accused DiZoglio of "public corruption" while DiZoglio has accused Campbell of using "stall tactics" to delay the audit. A majority of voters passed the law in November 2024, enabling the auditor's office to audit the Legislature, but concerns have been raised about the constitutional validity of the law. Campbell has repeatedly said her office has requested information about the scope of DiZoglio's audit, but DiZoglio has accused Campbell of not being transparent about what she needs from the auditor's office.
BOSTON – Attorney General Andrea Campbell again suggested the future of the legislative audit law is in the hands of the auditor, who in turn accused Campbell of “public corruption,” continuing a saga that has metamorphosed since more than 70% of voters cast ballots in favor of the review more than a year ago.
“I hope the voters get exactly what they voted for,” Campbell said when asked on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” whether voters would “get what they voted for” should the audit back-and-forth continue between her and Auditor Diana DiZoglio.
“I hope the auditor stops the standoff,” Campbell added.
A majority of voters passed the DiZoglio-backed law enabling her office to audit the Legislature in November 2024. Top Beacon Hill Democrats have pointed to concerns about the constitutional validity of the law ever since, and Campbell and DiZoglio have gone back-and-forth during respective media appearances about each others’ roles in the process.
“We represent almost every state agency and constitutional officer in the Commonwealth,” Campbell said Tuesday. “Anytime an agency comes to us and asks us to represent them, we ask them a certain amount of questions, they reply, and then we move forward or not. The only agency or constitutional office we have had any issue with since I’ve taken office is the auditor. And it’s not for lack of trying — it’s not for lack of trying to resolve this.”
DiZoglio responded to Campbell’s Tuesday comments in a statement to the News Service.
“The Attorney General continues to falsely claim that she needs more questions answered from my office. This is why I have called on the AG to sue me, and my office, so we can end this so-called ‘standoff.’ She won’t face me directly in interviews, however, and won’t sue me — as I have repeatedly called on her to do. Why? Because she is well aware that she needs nothing else from my office to be able to do her job,” DiZoglio said.
The Methuen Democrat continued, “She cannot continue to claim that my office hasn’t given her what she needs, yet refuse to sue me. It’s her duty to this Commonwealth to drag me to court if I haven’t provided what she needs to get this law enforced — and I’ll skip into the courtroom happily providing whatever is allegedly needed from my office.”
DiZoglio called Campbell’s actions “stall tactics” that are “giving the Legislature more time to destroy documents and records.” House Speaker Ron Mariano spokeswoman Ana Vivas later Tuesday called this allegation “baseless.” She also noted that Mariano in April said the increase in funding for the attorney general’s budget was designed to ensure that the attorney general’s office “can continue to push back against any unconstitutional actions from the Trump administration and to protect our residents.”
Campbell has repeatedly said her office has requested information about the scope of DiZoglio’s audit. She said Tuesday that there’s “a pathway forward” where DiZoglio could get an outside lawyer should Campbell’s office choose not to represent her.
“Even in that posture, which we allow for other agencies, she still has to answer certain questions, and she has not provided us those answers,” Campbell said.
Campbell said she would provide “Boston Public Radio” hosts with the questions she has been trying to ask DiZoglio, so that the hosts can ask the auditor themselves.
“What we are all witnessing right before our eyes is nothing short of public corruption,” DiZoglio alleged in response. “Our AG has conspired with the Speaker and Senate President to secure a very large budget increase for herself as a reward for this cover up. It’s beyond disgraceful. Every taxpayer in this state should be calling on the AG right now to sue both me and the Legislature for whatever she allegedly needs to do her job so this law gets enforced. Anything less is an abdication of her responsibility as your AG and outright public corruption.”
According to Campbell’s office, the core questions her office has asked DiZoglio revolve around her position on key legal issues in the case, including what she believes she can and cannot audit, who she would sue and what the legal claim would be.
Asked by co-host Jim Braude whether it’s an “unreasonable request” to also ask DiZoglio about what she might want to audit within the Legislature in the future, Campbell said that the court would ask her the same question.
“There are constitutional limitations on what her office can audit the Legislature for, and even before the ballot question, we put that out there,” Campbell said. “She has to be able to answer those constitutional limitations, because if she goes into court to suggest otherwise, the misrepresentation is not OK — it undermines the credibility not only of our office, but also of the law itself. And we can’t do that.”