What Did Marty Walsh Know and When Did He Know It? Closer Look at Dennis White Dilemma

Marty Walsh could not have expected the controversy he would create as he swore in Dennis White on Feb. 1 as the new Boston Police Commissioner.

“If I’m Mayor Walsh, I would want to just redo everything over that last month before he left office,” Boston University Professor Tom Whalen said.

Whalen sums it up this way, “What did Marty know and when did he know it?”

That is, what did Walsh know about White’s history of domestic violence allegations before he appointed him?

Walsh has said he had no knowledge of it, and former Police Commissioner Bill Evans backed that up saying he didn’t know either.

But there was a different take in a court affidavit from former Commissioner William Gross who, according to Whalen, “basically was his friend, at least it seemed that way on the surface here, is saying that Marty Walsh is a liar.”

That’s causing even some Democrats to pay attention.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she wants more information.

Congressman Seth Moulton agrees more needs to be known about the situation.

“If he’s lying, should he resign? To me, that’s an easy yes. It’s a basic standard of integrity that we should hold all public officials to," Moulton said. "We obviously need to learn more.“

For Walsh, it seems any response is problematic. If he did know, then he lied. And if he did not know, he should have.

“Either way, he looks really bad,” Whalen said.

According to Whalen, even though Walsh has moved on as U.S. Secretary of Labor -- tasked with selling President Joe Biden's ambitious infrastructure bill -- the hometown controversy will continue to dog him.

“If Marty Walsh had only done his homework," Whalen said. "Obviously he was distracted and he had one foot out the door. But now this might end up being his political undoing.”

NBC10 Boston reached out to Secretary Walsh for comment but did not get a response.