Witness Claims To Have Funneled Money To DiMasi

A one-time law associate of former Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi claims DiMasi insisted on taking all of a large payment from a software company seeking state contracts.

A key government witness, attorney Steven Topazio, testified in federal court Thursday. Topazio told the court that he paid DiMasi $25,000 after the former House Speaker demanded the payment as a fee for referring a Burlington software company to Topazio.

Prosecutors say the payments from Cognos Software were intended as bribes to DiMasi for his help in getting state contracts.

In cross examination, the defense tried to show that Topazio and DiMasi regularly shared payments from legal clients.

WBUR's David Boeri told All Things Considered's Steve Brown that Topazio's testimony could be damaging to DiMasi.

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