Beacon Hill, the Massachusetts State House, is the site of many of The Brennan Group’s dealings.

While Boston College has paid Boston-based lobbying firm The Brennan Group $179,000 since 2007, The Brennan Group has spent $75,275 on political contributions in the same time frame. Of the $75,275 spent on campaign contributions, The Brennan Group has donated almost exclusively to Democratic politicians in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Brennan Group, which consists of three lobbyists named John A. Brennan Jr., Daniel P. O’Brien and Lynda Bernard, has only donated $1,800 to Republican candidates since 2007, meaning that Republican politicians only account for 2.4% of The Brennan Group’s campaign contributions. In fact, only four GOP state legislators – State Representatives Bradley Jones and George Peterson, and State Senators Bruce Tarr and Richard Tisei – have received any contribution from The Brennan Group during this time period. The Brennan Group also donated $400 to Independent Treasurer and Receiver- General Tim Cahill, and select mayors and Boston City Council members who officially serve in a non-partisan capacity.

A vast majority of The Brennan Group’s campaign contributions have gone to Democrats in the Massachusetts General Court, the proper name for the Massachusetts state legislature. Other well-known donation recipients include Governor Deval Patrick, Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray, and Attorney General and current-U.S. Senate candidate Martha Coakley, all of whom are Democrats.

The Brennan Group also made several campaign contributions to now former Democratic state legislators who are currently under federal indictment. The Brennan Group has paid out $1,000 to former State Representative Salvatore DiMasi since 2007. DiMasi was Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives until January of this year when he resigned just six months before his June indictment for conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering. All charges were related to using his influence to steer state contracts toward a software company.

Another indicted Democratic politician who received donations from The Brennan Group is former State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who received two $200 donations from lobbyists Brennan and Bernard in July of 2008. Just three months later, Wilkerson was arrested for accepting a $10,000 cash bribe that an FBI videotape revealed she stuffed in her bra after meeting with an undercover informant.

When asked about Boston College’s relationship to The Brennan Group, BC Spokesman Jack Dunn simply stated that “Jack Brennan is a respected consultant who was hired by Boston College to assist us in the preparation and submittal of our Institutional Master Plan to the City of Boston. His counsel, in addition to the efforts of various administrative offices at BC, helped us to achieve its passage.” Both Brennan and Vice President for Government and Community Relations Thomas Keady were unavailable for comment.

In a press release dated June 18, 2009, Dunn announced that Boston Mayor Thomas Menino signed the Institutional Master Plan after “four years of public meetings with city officials and community residents, and formal approvals by both the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the Boston Zoning Commission.”

Dunn added that “The IMP, which will provide facilities to support the University’s Strategic Plan, calls for the construction of a university center, recreation complex, fine arts district and playing fields for baseball, softball and intramurals, as well as new residence halls to enable BC to meet 100 percent of demand for undergraduate housing. In addition to these projects, all of which will be built in the City of Boston, the University will eventually construct four academic buildings on its Middle Campus in Chestnut Hill.

“With the approval of the IMP, the University will begin planning and design work for the relocation of BC employees currently in More Hall to buildings on the Brighton Campus. More Hall will then be razed for the construction of a 470-bed undergraduate residence hall. The University is also in the design phase for Stokes Hall on its Middle Campus, which will provide space for classrooms and faculty offices.”

Brennan, the founder of The Brennan Group, previously spent fourteen years in the Massachusetts State Senate and served as Vice Chairman of D.C. based lobbying firm Cassidy and Associates, another lobbying firm that Boston College employs. Lobbyists Bernard and O’Brien also worked for Cassidy and Associates before joining Brennan Group. The Brennan Group claims to specialize in strategic planning and direct lobbying, issues management, regulatory simulations, coalitions and grassroots management, and real estate regulations and development.

The federal criminal cases against DiMasi and Wilkerson are still pending.

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