Feds investigating Cape Cod Rep. Chris Flanagan, police say

Federal prosecutors are investigating a Democratic state representative from Dennis Port and his election campaign after local police received a report alleging “potential criminal activity,” the Barnstable Police Department said. said in a statement Friday.

The Barnstable Police Department said it received a report alleging “possible criminal activity” involving Flanagan and the “Chris Flanagan for State Representative for Barnstable 1st District” campaign in October 2024.

“In December 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts adopted the investigation,” the Barnstable Police Department said. “Any and all questions regarding this investigation should be directed to the United States Attorney’s Office in Boston.”

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said the office neither confirms nor denies the investigations.

A records officer with the Barnstable Police Department did not immediately respond to a Herald inquiry Saturday morning seeking the report.

Flanagan did not immediately respond to multiple messages left on his cell phone Saturday morning.

The Democrat in his second term was the subject of an investigation by Cape Cod police for felony theft over $1,200 after his former employer, the Cape Cod Home Builders and Remodelers Association, filed a police report accusing him of “possible fraudulent use of a business account.”

The report, which was heavily redacted, listed $26,500 as “stolen.”

He was also sanctioned last year for misleading state regulators about how a campaign ad was paid for. He he quit his second job at the Cape Cod Home Builders and Remodelers Association in May.

Flanagan won re-election to his House seat in November with more than 54% of the vote compared to his Republican rival, Gerald O’Connell, who received just over 43% of the votes cast.

The Dennis Port Democrat was sworn in for his second term earlier this week during a ceremony in the House of Representatives. In a social media post after his swearing-in, Flanagan said that “a new year marks new beginnings.”

“I am so grateful to the voters of Barnstable’s First District for supporting our work together for another term as your state representative and I look forward to what we accomplish this year and this session,” he said in the social media post.

A spokesperson for House Speaker Ron Mariano’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday morning.

Originally Posted: January 4, 2025 at 10:31 am EST