Two of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's top aides will go to trial this week on charges that they bullied music festival organizers into hiring union workers if they wanted city permits.
City tourism chief Kenneth Brissette and director of intergovernmental relations Timothy Sullivan face trial on extortion charges in U.S. District Court. A jury was seated Monday and open statements were scheduled for Tuesday.
Prosecutors say they told organizers of the 2014 Boston Calling music festival that if they didn't hire union workers, others would picket. Both men have denied the charges.
A district court judge in March 2018 dismissed the case, but a federal appeals court reversed that ruling, saying the lower court judge misinterpreted the law when he ruled that federal prosecutors would be required to prove the defendants personally benefited from the hiring of union workers.
