Massachusetts State Sen. Diane Wilkerson has long been the Marion Barry of Boston–a comically corrupt black politician who somehow always gets re-elected. Wilkerson’s many scandals include a guilty plea for tax evasion, several campaign finance violations, and a pending disbarment proceeding for allegedly perjuring herself while testifying at her nephew's manslaughter trial.

So no one was surprised when the FBI arrested Wilkerson yesterday on charges of bribery and extortion after a lengthy joint investigation with the Boston Police Department.

The question is: Why didn’t the FBI and the Boston Police ever inform Gov. Deval Patrick that this locally-infamous politician was being investigated? Maybe because Patrick has been strongly supporting Diane Wilkerson's write-in campaign for State Senate (she recently lost the Democratic nomination to a Hispanic activist). Click here to listen to Patrick’s robo-call on Wilkerson’s behalf juxtaposed with FBI photos of Wilkerson accepting bribes, including a priceless pic of her stuffing cash into her bra during a fancy luncheon.

Scary stuff when you consider, as I previously wrote, that Deval Patrick is well-positioned to be Attorney General in a future Obama White House.