Prosecutor’s ethics case isn’t so complicated

The issue with impermissible conflicts of interest is never just the act itself. It’s usually difficult to judge someone’s motives. It’s the appearance of impropriety that matters most. If it looks bad, it needs to be avoided. This is the clear lesson from a report on actions by the state’s top prosecutor, Richard Colangelo, who hired the daughter of the state’s deputy budget chief to a high-paying job at the same time he was seeking favors from the same official. Even if everyone’s actions were above-board and no laws were broken, it looks terrible to an outsider. It never should have happened.

The details are complicated, and it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. The most important facts, though, are clear. Colangelo had been seeking pay raises for people in his office, and the official he had discussed the issue with was Kosta Diamantis, deputy secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management. At around the same time, Anastasia Diamantis, Kosta’s daughter, was hired by Colangelo for a $99,000-ayear job in his office.

It’s not illegal for people’s relatives to get hired for jobs, even if there’s a relationship between the positions. But there are steps that need to be taken to prove the hiring is legitimate and that the position was earned properly. It’s not supposed to be enough just to know the right person, but an investigation has cast doubt on all parties involved.

Gov. Ned Lamont was unusually forthright in his appraisal of the situation. After noting it’s not in his purview to hire or fire the chief state’s attorney, he made it clear that if he did have that power, Colangelo would be out of a job. This is the proper response. No public official can prevent everything untoward from happening on his watch, but it is important to respond quickly and directly.

That’s why attempts by political opponents to make this an example of poor state ethics under Lamont’s watch fall flat. The governor is, by all accounts, seeing the matter through as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

There are many other factors at play, and this is a complicated story. According to subpoena records released in recent days, the federal investigation led by former U.S. Attorney Stanley Twardy into school construction contracts administered by Kosta Diamantis has focused on a company that once employed his daughter. There are also new questions about hazardous materials remediation and the redevelopment of the State Pier in New London. This is not a story likely to end anytime soon.

But at its heart, it’s not all that complicated. Twardy’s report found that in the matter of hiring Anastasia Diamantis to her job as executive assistant, Colangelo and Kosta and Anastasia Diamantis “lack credibility” in the statements they provided to investigators. Even with no direct evidence of collusion in this hiring decision, this is a terrible look for all parties.

It’s not just the act; it’s the appearance of impropriety. Every public official knows this. This is why ethics laws exist. Maybe this used to be the way things were done in state government, but it’s to everyone’s benefit that such actions are no longer tolerated.

Maybe this used to be the way things were done in state government, but it’s to everyone’s benefit that such actions are no longer tolerated.