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Mr. Bolcher. It's the policy the committee all witnesses be sworn before they testify would you please rise with me and raise your right hand.

Salmys were to tell the truth the whole truth the nothing but the truth. Thank you.

Noted from the record that Mr. Bolcher is appearing before the committee pursuant to a subpoena issued by this committee and duly served by agreement by a faxsimile and Mr. Bolcher's lawyer on Tuesday. A copy of that subpoena will be placed in the record.

It was June 19th 2003 Washington DC the Capitol Billy Bolcher the president of the University of Massachusetts the former president of the Massachusetts state Senate was finally under oath.

He was compelled to answer questions under pains and penalties of perjury his interrogators congressman the forum a hearing of the House committee on government.

The president reform Billy had been fighting to prevent this appearance for six months.

For some of the subpoena will be in bolder appeared before this committee on December 6th 2002. At that time Mr. Bolcher exercised as hiff the amendment privilege and refused to testify.

On April 9th 2003 this committee voted to grant William Bolcher immunity to obtain information concerning quite useful about and the FBI's misuse of informants.

Instead certain FBI special agent handlers in Boston including John Conley chose to break the law by participating corrupt relationships with their informants.

The agents turned a blind eye to the crimes committed by their informants and participated in dismantling state and federal investigations of the New England mob by tipping off their informants to wiretaps surveillance and pending indictments.

The agents chose personal gain over ethics by forming social relationships with their informants that exceeded the boundaries established by FBI guidelines.

The hearing was being telecast live on C-SPAN. Every major TV station in Boston was taking the C-SPAN feed. All regular TV programming was preempted in Boston this late spring morning. Her months Billy had been stalling.

The previous committee chairman congressman Dan Burton of Indiana had become obsessed with the unprecedented levels of political and law enforcement corruption in Boston.

But because of congressional term limits Burton was no longer chairman of the committee. Billy had hoped to cut a deal with Burton's successor Davis.

Billy Balger had spent his entire adult life as a legislator. He knew how to massage the egos of politicians like Davis.

Mr. Chairman he would say, we have so much in common. Can't we work something out here? A closed hearing perhaps? No TV cameras, no reporters and a grant of immunity would be much appreciated Mr. Chairman.

It was the sort of back room deal Billy had been working out for decades on Beacon Hill in Boston. Now Billy had his grant of immunity. As long as he told the truth Balger could not be prosecuted.

But Balger hadn't gotten the closed hearing he'd been hoping for. Now his $329,000 a year job as president of UMass was on the line.

As he looked up at the grim faces of the congressman waiting to grill him, Billy Balger saw his old tormentor Dan Burton no longer chairman but still on the committee.

And loaded for bear Billy could no longer take the fifth amendment over and over again the way he had in the old federal courthouse six months earlier.

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