Opinion ID: 202112
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 1988 to 1990: Speculation

Text: 16 Newspaper coverage of the relationship between Connolly and Bulger and Flemmi began no later than September 20, 1988, when the Boston Globe reported that the FBI has for years had a special relationship with Bulger that has divided law enforcement bitterly and poisoned relations among many investigators. The Globe Spotlight Team, The Bulger Mystique: Law Enforcement Officials Lament about an Elusive Foe: Where Was Whitey?, Boston Globe, Sept. 20, 1988, at 18. The Globe's speculations in that initial article and subsequent ones were, however, vehemently denied by the FBI. See, e.g., id. at 19 (quoting FBI's denial that the FBI gave any special treatment to Bulger); Dick Lehr, Finnerty Is Attorney for FBI Agent, Boston Globe, Mar. 24, 1989, at 16 (rejecting the notion that Bulger has had relations with the bureau that have left him free of its scrutiny); Dick Lehr & Kevin Cullen, Liquor Purchase Fuels Friction over FBI-Whitey Bulger Tie, Boston Globe, Nov. 11, 1990, at 44-45 (noting FBI's strong denials of any impropriety). After this spate of reporting from 1988 to 1990, the papers became relatively quiet on the issue for a several years.