The Massachusetts Democratic Party, which plans to investigate the authenticity of misconduct allegations college Democrats made against Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse (D), the primary challenger to Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), was reportedly itself involved in the handling of the allegations before they were made public.

The Intercept reported that leaders in the state party, whose bylaws require it remain neutral in primary races, helped members of the College Democrats of Massachusetts (CDMA) with their accusations, which first came to light through a letter leaked to the Daily Collegian, University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst’s student newspaper, on August 7.

Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Gus Bickford — who is now calling for an investigation into the students’ charges, according to Politico — and Executive Director Victoria Martinez previously had ongoing private communication with the students and connected them with attorney Jim Roosevelt, who co-chairs the Democratic National Committee’s credentials committee and has donated to Neal’s campaign in the past per Federal Election Commission records. Roosevelt, grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt, aided the students with the letter leaked to the Daily Collegian.

Politico reported that Bickford will not investigate the letter’s allegations until after the primary because of the state party’s policy to remain neutral, although this seemingly conflicts with the state party’s prior involvement.

Neither Bickford nor Martinez responded to requests for comment on the matter.

In their letter, the students alleged that Morse, 31, had “regularly matched with students on dating apps”; used college Democrat events to meet students, connect with them on social media, and then direct message them, which “made young college students uncomfortable” given his status; and had “sexual contact” with students, including those at UMass Amherst where Morse taught. They did not reference any specific student or incident.

Morse, in a statement on August 9, denied the misconduct allegations while acknowledging that he could have made some students feel “uncomfortable”:

I have never, in my entire life, had a non-consensual sexual encounter with anyone. I have never used my position of power as Mayor and UMass lecturer for romantic or sexual gain, or to take advantage of students. I have never violated UMass policy. Any claim to the contrary is false.

…

While I am confident that a full investigation into these matters will clear my name completely of any unethical conduct, I also recognize that some students felt uncomfortable with interactions they had with me. I am sorry for that. This is unacceptable behavior for anyone with institutional power.

Suspicions arose about the allegations as outlined through The Intercept’s investigation, which found — among other evidence — that the then-president of the UMass Amherst CDMA, a steadfast Neal supporter seeking an internship with him after college, discussed engineering an attack on Morse’s campaign as early as October 2019.

According to Mass Live, the university received no reports of Morse’s alleged misconduct prior to the claims that surfaced on August 7.

Morse, who is openly gay, has said the claims feed into “homophobic tropes that we have had leveled on us for generations” and has expressed his skepticism of their timing, saying on Friday, “It was in no means an accident that this is coming out three weeks before the election” and that this does a “disservice to actual victims.”

Neal, who has served in Congress for over 30 years and chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, denies his campaign had any prior awareness of the matter.

“I learned about the allegations against Mayor Morse the same way everyone else did, in the Daily Collegian last week,” the congressman said in an August 13 statement. “Any implications that I or anyone from my campaign are involved are flat wrong and an attempt to distract from the issue at hand.”

While many had viewed the young Morse’s grassroots campaign against Neal, a longstanding influential figure in Washington, as a long shot, one recent internal poll showed the race tightening, and Morse’s campaign announced Friday, after the allegations surfaced, that it had a record week of fundraising.

The Democrat primary, for Massachusetts’ First Congressional District, takes place September 1.