Keller @ Large: Rep. Lynch Calls For Investigation Into FBI's Bulger Case
BOSTON (CBS) - Whitey Bulger's return to Boston has provoked mixed feelings, and nowhere more than in his home base in South Boston.
Congressman Stephen Lynch is calling for a new investigation into the FBI's handling of the case. For him, Whitey's return is a moment to both acknowledge Southie's troubled past, and move beyond it.
"I guess it all is intertwined in the narrative that is South Boston," Rep. Lynch said of the Bulger story.
It's also intertwined in the story of Lynch as well.
WBZ's Jon Keller is at large:
He took on the Bulger political machine in 1996, beating William Bulger, Jr. to win the State Senate seat Billy Bulger had held.
It was Rep. Lynch asking some of the tougher questions at the 2003 Congressional hearings into WhiteyBulger.
So, with the saga of the Bulger brothers once again front and center, we wondered: how comfortable or uncomfortable is Lynch are you with the role Billy Bulger plays in this story?
"I think it was fairly limited. We went over that pretty well in the Congressional hearings," said Rep. Lynch.
Lynch says he hopes Whitey's capture brings an end to a disturbing chapter in his hometown's history.
It's a sentiment echoed by his neighbor and senate successor.
"There's been a lot of hurt, there's been some despair through drugs and murders and that sort of thing. People, I think, are pleased that this chapter in this neighborhood's history is coming to closure," said State Sen. Jack Hart.
But, closure doesn't always come easily. Lynch wants the Justice Department to reopen its investigation of the FBI's practices, and while he praised the current FBI leadership, he says of the 16 years it took the bureau to find Whitey hiding in plain sight in Santa Monica: "It gives you pause."
