DiMasi Responds To Wife's Business Relationship

BOSTON -- House Speaker Sal DiMasi filed his financial disclosure form late Tuesday, but recent questions over his relationship with one of the state's most successful real estate developers were not answered.

NewsCenter 5's Janet Wu reported Wednesday that DiMasi said his wife's business relationship with Christy Cashman is none of the public's business. Cashman is the president of SaintAire Productions, where DiMasi's wife, Debbie DiMasi, is a producer.

VIDEO: Speaker Files Financial Disclosure Forms

Cashman is the wife of Boston developer Jay Cashman, whose business dealings at the Statehouse have made headlines because of legislation the speaker has pushed and benefited Cashman financially.

"I think my wife is entitled to pursue her own career, and I believe, just like any other elected official's wife, is entitled to that, and the questions come as to her privacy and her private business relationships," DiMasi said.

By law, Debbie DiMasi's income can be provided but is not mandated as part of her husband's ethics disclosure form.

However, the law states that politicians cannot take any official action that financially benefits his immediate family. DiMasi won't say how much his wife is paid by Christy Cashman, who is also an actress. He also insisted his decisions affecting Jay Cashman's business interests in wind farms and LNG terminals are separate issues.

"I think it's been exaggerated. This is all about public policy," DiMasi said.

"Why not answer all those questions by saying how much she's making in this production company?" Wu said.

"It's a public policy we've discussed. And all of the decisions that have been made without those single persons or individuals in mind," DiMasi said.

DiMasi said that other elected officials often do not provide their spouses' incomes.

When asked if he considered putting his wife's income on his disclosure form, he said there were too many other people affected by that decision, and that's why he did not include it.