City Manager Eric Batista pushed back Friday against criticism that Worcester misrepresented the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to close its investigation into the Worcester Police Department, saying the city never claimed federal investigators had retracted their explosive 2024 findings or concluded that the allegations underlying them were unfounded.
Batista’s statement comes a week after the city announced the federal investigation had ended without further action—and after reporting by GBH News raised questions about the city’s characterization of the DOJ’s decision.
The dispute centers on a letter sent last week from the Justice Department to Worcester officials explaining its decision to close the investigation. The letter has not been publicly released by the city or DOJ, although GBH News obtained a copy and reported on its contents this week. The Worcester Guardian also requested several times the letter and comment from the justice department, which responded on Friday, “We will decline to comment at this time.”…