Ayanna Pressley

A Hampden Superior Court judge heard arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit to stop a massive $2 billion state contract from being awarded, in part, to a firm co-owned by the head of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) and the husband of US Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

The lawsuit was filed July 9 by two of the 10 losing bidders on the project: New England used car magnate Jeb Balise and real estate conglomerate Dinesh Patel, who filed the suit on July 9 under their respective business entities USPB JV, LLC and Tower Square, LLC.

Hampden Superior Court Associate Justice David Hodge heard arguments from attorneys representing Baiise and Patel as well as the Attorney General’s Office, who is representing the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAMM).

A decision from the bench is expected within the coming weeks.

Attorneys representing Balise and Patel focused on the appearance of impropriety of such a contract being awarded to two “political insiders” in MCCA Executive Director John Barros and Pressley’s husband, Conan Harris. The also zeroed in on what they call inconsistencies in the process, as when Barros disclosed his conflicts of interest and his planned role in the project with the State Ethics Commission.

“We are here today because the process that DCAMM undertook was unfortunately not up to task. DCAMM acted arbitrarily and capriciously in conditionally selecting an award, or a proposal whose headliners were two political insiders: a sitting high-level state official in Mr. John Barros and the husband of a member of Congress in Mr. Harris. Now, at the very least, that selection raises an appearance of impropriety,” argued attorney John Butts before focusing in on Barros’ conflicts of interest and the state’s defense that he was simply a “passive investor.”

“He’s one of four principals in this procurement or in this development team. And if that’s the case, then the problem is called ‘pure conflict.’ If we go to the post-award characterizations that he’s just a passive investor, then I suppose the problem is that it’s materially misleading submissions about his role,” he said.

Butts also argued that Barros, in his role as interim leader of the MCCA, did not properly or honestly disclose his conflict of interest with state officials until a day after DCAMM awarded the contract to CoJo Partners. This was disputed in memos recently filed by Attorney General Andrea Campbell and attorneys for Liberty Junction, defending the deal. Barros denied the accusations earlier this month.

“Defendants’ dizzying positions on Mr. Barros’s role only reinforce the actual conflict and appearance of impropriety resulting from the selection of Liberty Junction’s bid,” Butts and his co-counsel said in a reply to the attorney general’s defense, filed Monday.

Campbell’s office called the lawsuit “nothing more than a fever dream of imagined malfeasance in aid of Plaintiffs’ attempt to elevate their own financial interests,” in a scathing memo in defense of the contract filed by DCAMM ast week.

DCAMM quietly announced the contract was awarded to Liberty Junction in a July 2 press release – the last business day before the Independence Day weekend – something the two losing bidders liken to a “Thursday news dump,” adding that it “fostered an unmistakable appearance of impropriety.”

Barros divested his interest in Liberty Junction and CoJo Partners late last month in response to the public backlash and pending lawsuit. Harris has not followed suit and remains a principal of the contract.

“Since then, the appearance of impropriety has only become deeper in the sense that Mr. Barros felt compelled to back out. I would like to say, better late than never, but I’m afraid that the more apt phrase is, “you can’t un-ring a bell,” Butts told Judge Hodge.

The Attorney General’s Office fired back, calling out what they said is a “hodgepodge of factual inaccuracies layered over legal mistakes, any of which doom their claim for preliminary injunction,” in the lawsuit brought against DCAMM. The AG’s Office also highlighted the urgent public need for a new regional justice center in Springfield to replace the aging Roderick L. Ireland Courthouse is plagued by health and safety hazards.

“Plaintiffs’ first mistake is a misunderstanding of DCAMM. DCAMM’s sole purpose is to provide the building necessary to enable the Commonwealth to better serve the public with the best value possible,” said Assistant Attorney General Nicholas Ogden.

“Two, the very nature of plaintiff’s complaint makes a meritless claim that DCAMM, and by necessary implication, the Trial Court, have elevated politics over duty because it is the trial court that recommended choosing Liberty Junction,” he said.

DCAMM maintains it awarded the contract based on the recommendation of the Massachusetts Trial Court (TRC) in an effort to finish the project “as quickly as possible.”

Ogden went on to argue that Balise and Patel cannot legally prove they were financially harmed by the deal.

“First, there is a remedy of law and there is no reparable harm, and for that reason, their motion should be denied. Bradford v. Bigelow holds that there are monetary damages in a case like this. And the issue is not that monetary damage is hard to prove, it is whether there are, in fact, monetary damages,” Ogden said.

Gov. Maura Healey has defended the contract, saying it is the “best deal for taxpayers.”

As Conan Harris remains with CoJo Partners and on the contract, Ayanna Pressley’s net worth has exploded from an estimated $12,500 during her time as Boston City Councilor in 2018 to a whopping $8 million in 2024, according to Open Secrets. She receives a congressional salary of $174,000.

According to Pressley’s financial disclosure report, the congresswoman has listed several homes with estimated values between $1 million and $5 million, also renting those properties out for hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

The Herald has requested comment from Pressley and Harris.