Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey faces backlash for embattled aide LaMar Cook's $31,000 contract buyout

Tim Dunn, Boston Herald on Jan 6, 2026

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BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is facing backlash after the Boston Herald reported that her embattled former aide, LaMar Cook, had been paid over $31,000 in a contract buyout after he was fired for his arrest on cocaine trafficking charges.

As part of the ‘Your Tax Dollars at Work’ series, the Herald reported Monday that Cook was paid a total of $130,227 last year, off a base salary of $98,789 and a contract “buyout” after he was fired that totaled $31,439, according to state records.

The governor’s office attributed the payout to an “error” in the Human Resources Department, adding that the office is actively working to get the money back. Matt Murphy, of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, tells the Herald that Cook was informed last month of the human resources error and that he is required to repay the sum immediately. So far, Murphy says, Cook has not repaid the money. He says the Commonwealth is preparing to take legal action and expects to file the legal complaint next week.

All three Republican gubernatorial candidates are blasting Healey for the so-called “error” in paying out Cook his unused vacation and sick time.

GOP candidate Brian Shortsleeve is calling for an investigation into how the governor’s office managed to award Cook with the contract buyout to begin with, calling it a “culture of corruption and mismanagement.

“Maura Healey’s administration approved a $30,000 taxpayer-funded payout to a political aide after he was arrested for trafficking cocaine. The public deserves to know who authorized this payment, why it was approved, and what safeguards, if any, exist inside her administration,” Shortsleeve told the Herald in a written statement.

“We already know Healey was aware of Cook’s prior gun charges, including an arrest connected to a drive-by shooting, because they were part of his background check. And yet, he was still hired. What else did they know? Who approved this payout? And how many other hires were waved through with similar red flags?” Shortsleeve added.

Fellow-candidate Mike Kennealy calls it a “pattern” of incompetence seen numerous times in the Administration, telling the Herald that Healey cannot be trusted.

“From botched background checks in migrant shelters, to hiring an individual with prior gun charges into a senior role, to quietly issuing a $31,000 buyout after his termination and calling it an ‘error,’ the Healey administration continues to demonstrate a lack of competence and accountability. An administration that can’t manage basic hiring, oversight, and payroll procedures cannot be trusted to run state government,” Kennealy said.

As for candidate Mike Minogue, who was the CEO of Massachusetts-based medical technology company Abiomed for 19 years, it comes down to Healey’s executive management skills.

“This is another example of the Governor’s lack of executive management skills. Mr. Cook should not have been hired or received a severance package after breaking the law. This is common sense, not a political issue. As a new kind of governor, I can assure you this won’t happen on my watch,” Minogue told the Herald.

This isn’t the first time Healey has been put under the hot lights over Cook’s employment.

Last month, a Herald public records request revealed that the Administration likely knew about Cook’s violent criminal history, which includes his arrest in 2001 in connection to a shooting in Springfield, where he and another man allegedly got out of a car and fired a gun at people on a nearby porch. He was charged, along with two others, with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, discharging a handgun within 500 feet of a dwelling and unlicensed possession of a firearm. Immediately following his arrest, several calls were made for the administration to release all records related to Cook and the hiring process that led to his employment.

Cook was arrested in late October after State Police intercepted 21 kilograms of cocaine being shipped to the Springfield State Office where he worked. Troopers also seized an unregistered gun and ammunition from Cook, who is charged with trafficking 200 grams or more of cocaine, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The governor says Cook was fired immediately after his arrest, calling it “a major breach of public trust” and “unacceptable.”

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