UMass president subpoenaed to testify about brother

The U.S. House Government Reform Committee issued a subpoena Monday to compel UMass President William Bulger to testify about his fugitive brother, James "Whitey" Bulger, a notorious mobster and FBI informant, according to The Boston Globe. The committee's chief lawyer, Jim Wilson, said over the weekend that Bulger's lawyer told him that his client would not show up voluntarily to testify at a Friday hearing in Boston. If legal means of preventing Bulger's testimony do not succeed, and Bulger fails to show up, he risks imprisonment. The committee has not revealed what it will ask Bulger, but he could be questioned about what, if any, influence he had with law enforcement while his brother was an informant. The committee is investigating the Justice Department's handling of mob informants. It has focused on the relationship between Boston FBI agents and the hit men and mob leaders they cultivated-and sometimes protected from prosecution for crimes as serious as murder, according to The Globe. James Bulger, 73, fled in 1995 just before he was indicted on racketeering and extortion charges. He has since been indicted on additional charges related to 18 murders.