Incumbent Kevin Hayden needed something big to deflect attention from his record, which includes a controversial police cover up, in the race for Suffolk County District Attorney. Something big showed up right on time.

In a revelation that has rocked the race, official documents leaked to the Boston Globe recount sexual assault allegations made against challenger Ricardo Arroyo by two women in 2005.

Subsequent investigation established that the allegations were “unfounded.” While individuals in law enforcement can debate about what “unfounded” means with respect to potential culpability, there is no debate as to the uproar caused by the eleventh hour bombshell in the District Attorney’s race.

Arroyo has lost some key endorsements, and held on to others. The Boston City Council is in an uproar, divided over what some observers identify as a double-standard in local politics where politicians of color are held to higher standards than white counterparts and are judged guilty until proven innocent.

In terms of timing, the revelation could hardly be better for incumbent Kevin Hayden. The DA was appointed to the job by Gov. Baker at the start of 2022 when previous office holder Rachael Rollins left to become US Attorney for Massachusetts.

Along with the office, Hayden inherited a police coverup case that Rollins was investigating with the apparent intent to prosecute. The charges in the case allege a Transit Police officer had illegally pulled a gun on an unsuspecting citizen and falsified reports, along with the help of a colleague, to cover up the affair. The details of the case were disturbing enough that Transit Police officials themselves referred the case to the DA.

For a moment, it looked like an instance where abuse of police authority was going to get its fair censure in the court of law. Then Hayden took over the DA’s office.

The investigation stalled; the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit, responsible for prosecuting these types of cases, lost the bulk of its staff when Hayden took over and were never replaced. It appeared that Hayden “quiet quit” on the investigation. To make matters worse, Hayden’s campaign for DA accepted a donation from the lawyer of one of the embattled transit officers, right after he learned that the DA would not be pursuing charges.

Accounts differ as to whether or to what extent Hayden’s office shelved the investigation. But the backpedaling and flip-flopping stories coming out of the DA’s office were enough to draw stern criticism from a host of political bigwigs, including State Representative Jon Santiago of the South End, Representative Nika Elugardo of Jamaica Plain, former Mayor Kim Janey, and current Mayor Michelle Wu.

Among the loudest critical voices was the current challenger for the office Ricardo Arroyo, who called for Hayden to resign.

The recent Arroyo revelations are a welcome change of topic for Hayden, although the news has many wondering where the illegal leaks that spurred the story originated. Political observers around Massachusetts are wondering if the leaks did not originate in the DA’s office itself, which would make the revelation a supremely unsubtle form of political attack and abuse of the office. The Boston Herald reported on September 4th:

“The release of the documents (Friday) uncovered a direct link between this case and Kevin Hayden,” Arroyo said in a statement over the weekend. “Hayden has continued to refuse an independent investigation of his office to investigate the illegal leak. These files only exist in two places — BPD and the DA’s office. BPD has conducted an investigation and determined the files were not accessed there. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office has refused to investigate this leak.

“Today, I’m renewing my call on Kevin Hayden to agree to an independent investigation to ensure that no further leaks come from his office,” Arroyo added. “It’s time for Hayden to finally answer the question about how these documents were illegally leaked in the first place.”

The Hayden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.”

It’s a lot for the citizens to digest as they head to the ballot box to vote in the September 6th primary. It remains to be seen whether voters will take the time to sort through the claims and counterclaims, or simply not check either box.