Chairman Chris Healy is raising serious concerns today about the role Deputy Speaker James O’Rourke played in the death of Carol Sinisgalli, who froze to death just hours after climbing out of the Democrat’s car.  He is pressing for answers to questions that O’Rourke has been avoiding since the tragic night of January 21. 

The whole episode has been very sad since the beginning.  Bitter cold Arctic air had settled over southern New England, dipping temperatures into the single digits.  Ms. Sinisgalli was inside O’Leary’s Digger McGuff’s Tavern in Cromwell, apparently getting into an altercation with a man in a wheelchair, fleeing the bar without her coat, purse, or shoes, and hopping in the back of State Rep. O’Rourke’s car as he was leaving the bar.

The pair ended up at Dividend Road in Rocky Hill where Sinisgalli got out of the car – more than a half mile from her home - and wandered into the night.  She was found the next afternoon, barefoot, coat-less, and dead.

Since that time, Rep. O’Rourke has kept among the lowest profile in Connecticut politics.  He has avoided all questions about the Sinisgalli Affair, leaving it to his lawyer to assure the public that “This isn’t Connecticut’s Chappaquiddick, I’ll tell you that”.

As a matter of fact, one of the more public things that O’Rourke has done in recent weeks will occur tomorrow, when he will sponsor a Legislative Pre-Parade Party at the State Capitol – kicking off the weekend festivities.  O’Leary’s Digger McGuff’s Tavern will be hopping, no doubt.

Healy called on Rep. O’Rourke to come clean on the issue or step down.

“You can’t say you’re being a good Samaritan and drop people off in the middle of the night,” Healy said Thursday. “You can’t claim you were assaulted [when] you didn’t tell anybody.”

Commentator Dean Pagani weighed in on Healy’s comments on his blog Media Attache.

GOP Chairman Chris Healy is treading on very sensitive ground here, yet he is raising legitimate questions in light of the circumstances and the fact that O’Rourke has said very little publicly about the case.

Beyond today’s headline, this tells us something about how far Healy is willing to go in pursuit of wayward Democrats. If he is willing to raise this issue with O’Rourke, how far is he willing to go in pursuit of Chris Dodd?

Indeed.