State Auditor concluded the Office of the Governor violated state law by withholding records from an audit of the Veterans' Home at Holyoke, citing attorney-client privilege; the administration disputes the conclusion, 2026

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In an audit of the Veterans Home at Holyoke published January 14, 2026, the State Auditor reported that on August 9, 2024 it requested interview notes and other records behind the June 2020 Pearlstein Report on the COVID-19 outbreak in which at least 76 veterans died, and that on August 12, 2024 counsel for the Office of the Governor denied the request, stating that Gov. Baker's office had withheld the notes as protected by the work product doctrine and attorney-client privilege and that this "will be our position as well." The Auditor concluded the Office of the Governor violated Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws by withholding the documents, and said any privilege was waived when the report was released. The Pearlstein Report was commissioned in 2020 under the prior administration; the refusal the audit documents came in 2024, in the Healey administration. In the report, the Executive Office of Veterans Services responded that the Baker administration had determined the materials were privileged and that the Auditor misunderstood the scope of privilege and work product; the Auditor replied that it disagreed. According to WAMC, an Executive Office of Veterans Services spokesperson said the audit period largely predates the Healey administration and that each audit finding had been addressed, and Healey told reporters she had not yet reviewed the report. WAMC reported that the Auditor said her office intends to pursue legal action to gain access to the records. The sources reviewed do not report a court ruling or penalty, and the privilege question has not been decided by any court.

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