Anyone removing government files while Steve Bellone was heading for the door after 12 years as county executive has one month to return them under an amnesty offer announced by Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney. After that, they face prosecution in a case that has grown into Suffolk’s own “File Gate.”
Saying that it is in the best interest of the public, Tierney took the extraordinary step of revealing that an investigation is underway, a move rarely made by a prosecutor. Any missing records, Suffolk officials said, could be valuable in getting to the bottom of the cyberattack that crippled the county in 2022 and could assist in a probe of the money allocated to organizations Bellone and some of his staffers went to work for after he left office on January 1.
Tierney confirmed in a statement that he has “received allegations that, during the transition of county administrations, members of the outgoing Bellone administration improperly destroyed and removed data belonging to Suffolk County.” Offering an explanation why the investigation was made public, his chief deputy, Alan Bode said it was “determined that the public’s awareness would assist the investigation or mitigate harm from any alleged criminality.”
Tierney is looking into any duplication or destruction of records and whether any actions by the Bellone administration were inadvertent or intentional, and if criminal charges are warranted. According to a source speaking on the condition of anonymity, the outgoing county executive left no files or electronic data. The county executive’s suite turned over to the new executive, Edward Romaine, was described as a “mess.”
The investigation was spurred by Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy, who said he was tipped off by several county employees that email records were destroyed and equipment that would hold the information was deactivated. “This is theft of public property and could be damaging to government operations,” Kennedy said.
“Ray Tierney is doing something that no other DA has done before; he announced that he's investigating this and saying when they return the records, they won't be prosecuted,” Romaine stressed. “There will be amnesty. And the reason is because these records are vital to the security of the county; they could harm the county in a major way.”
Legislator Anthony Piccirillo pointed to a “transition of power” law he sponsored after taking office in 2020 and finding an empty office that requires outgoing county officials to retain documents and other information for their successors. He is chairman of a special committee investigating the cyberattack, an effort that has yet to produce a report pending an appearance by Bellone Deputy Lisa Black. Concern has been raised that data that would aid the investigation, which is expected to detail how attackers accessed the county’s computer system and make security recommendations, may have been deleted or destroyed. County officials are also looking into where Bellone staff members went to work after he was term limited out, and if those organizations received county funds.
“Anyone in possession of county data is advised to take no further action to destroy or duplicate such data as this may subject them to additional charges,” Tierney warned. Given the obvious public interest in the rapid recovery of any files, he said his office will offer an “amnesty period for anyone who is in inadvertent possession of county data who wishes to make arrangements for its return.”
The South Shore Press was unable to obtain comment on the investigation from Bellone or members of his defunct administration.
The situation is reminiscent of the File Gate case against former President Donald Trump, who was charged after federal agents raided his Mar-a-Lago estate and seized Oval Office records. Public scandals described with the word “Gate” harken back to the days of President Richard Nixon and a break in at the Democrat National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office building in Washington, DC.