Gotta hand it to Chuck Turner

Burkeman1 wonders:

... What possible jurisdiction do they have? How did this get started? Where are our local cops? The Commonwealth pays for a rather large and well funded State Police undercover task force that is more than capable of handling such things- if they indeed need to be handled at all- which should be the decision of our local government entities!

Why is this alien foreign bureau whose primary allegiance lies outside this state being allowed to simply run investigations against our elected local officials?

Turner is playing the race card in his defense already (He is black.) Bad move Turner. That will get you exactly nowhere and will alienate potential allies. He should be playing up the local vs federal angle.

Jay Fitzgerald: All for a lousy $1,000:

Dianne Wilkerson got what she deserved. But I thought Chuck Turner was smarter and more decent than this. ...

Herald: U.S. Attorney rules out Menino, state legislators. However, Michael Sullivan did not extend the same reassurance to other members of the city council.

Green-Rainbow Party stands with Turner. Calls for broad investigation of influence-peddling:

... The widespread legalized corruption on Beacon Hill is well-documented. This system permits wealthy interests - from Big Dig contractors to health insurers -to obtain favors through campaign donations and lobbying. Those officials who have most consistently betrayed the public trust in this regard were not targeted by FBI sting operations to see which rules they might violate. Instead, the FBI has targeted members of the black community who have often been impediments to the plans of the well-connected special interests. This raises questions of whether discriminatory, politically-motivated influences are at work. Hence it is important that the planning and execution of the FBI initiatives be investigated. Furthermore, Councilor Turner's outspoken criticism of the federal government, including the FBI's own illegal, covert COINTELPRO program, raises additional questions about the FBI's motivations for this sting operation. ...

Chris Farone reports:

... Outside the council office I ask the few people who walk by what Chuck was doing inside City Hall at 7am. The man is a legendary late riser, and from what I understand he generally spends Fridays at his district office.

"Where do you guys keep the shredder around here?" I ask. "I want to check it for Chuck's fingerprints." Not surprisingly, just about everyone chuckles, then puts their head down and speeds past. ...

WBZ reports on Turner's comments following his arraignment this afternoon.

Open Media Boston concludes the FBI doesn't have a good case against Turner, because it relies on a single witness (our friend, CW) and that:

The FBI case also relies heavily on their own interpretations of Turner's clandestinely video and audio-taped actions - actions which can certainly be read as legal behavior, and for which there is precedent in the previous actions of other more powerful politicians in Boston. And those politicians were not dragged out to the U.S. District Court in Worcester by U.S. Marshals on the rare occasions when such potential financial infractions came to light. Far from it.