Rising star Rachael Rollins now a cautionary tale

When Rachael Rollins took her position as Suffolk County District Attorney in 2019, she was determined to disrupt the “status quo.”

She told the Boston Chamber of Commerce in 2021 “I knew this was not going to be easy, and that the work we’re doing here in Boston is scary to some people to some who are deeply invested in the status quo because the system works well for them.”

In the end, the disgraced former Attorney General for Massachusetts proved she was deeply invested in making the system work for her — ethics be damned.

Rollins has gone from rising star to the poster girl for hubris in less than a week and the dust is still settling after a Department of Justice report concluded she improperly used her position by influencing the Suffolk DA’S race by leaking non-public information and broke agency rules by attending a Democratic fundraiser last summer, as theherald reported.

The report calls her out for attempting to tip the scales in last year’s Suffolk District Attorney’s race — in which Boston Globe ran pre-primary stories leaked by Rollins damaging to then-candidate Kevin Hayden who was facing off with City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, who the document identifies as her preferred candidate.

Rollins not only damaged the public’s trust and her own career, but her misdeeds will outshine any positives in her legacy.

Rollins made history as the first woman to hold the office of Suffolk County D.A., and the first woman of color to serve as a Massachusetts D.A. These achievements inspired women and people of color as hallmarks of progress and personal success. For progressives, Rollins career arc was especially admirable.

She became the first Black woman to serve as the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, garnering accolades from Democratic heavy-hitters who touted her as a champion of public safety and criminal justice reform.

In a narrative known alltoo-well by women and people of color who’ve attained high-profile positions, Rollins paid a price for her success. She faced death threats following her being sworn in to office. As CNN reported, violent and racist threats escalated shortly after the Senate narrowly voted to confirm Rollins to the post.

Under her watch as AG, eight people were indicted in July of last year for their alleged roles in laundering tens of millions of dollars’ worth of drug trafficking proceeds. Rollins’ office was racking up impressive wins, especially with the October arrests of nearly two dozen people on drug trafficking charges.

Then the rot set in. Wemay never know just when Rollins decided to embrace the notion that rules didn’t apply to her, but as the DOJ report makes clear, she did.

All the history-making “firsts,” the notable prosecutions and position as a person who inspires will forever be a footnote to her legacy of misdeeds.

She’s not the only one feeling the fallout — Rollins is doing no favors for her high-profile hype team, particularly Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

They sure picked a winner.