A 30-year-old man who worked as a press spokesman for John McCain was arrested for allegedly punching his girlfriend, breaking one of her ribs. Barry Flynn was fired by the McCain campaign after it learned about his arrest on Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault and battery at his arraignment at Boston Municipal Court later Wednesday and was released on $500 bail.
Flynn had been a spokesman for the McCain campaign since August, working in New Hampshire before that state’s Jan. 8 primary.
"We’ve severed all ties with him and did so immediately upon learning of the situation," said Jill Hazelbaker, communications director for the McCain campaign.
According to court records, Flynn also was arrested in 2003 on charges of domestic violence against the same woman and was fired from his job working for Mitt Romney, who was then governor of Massachusetts and is now McCain’s rival for the Republican presidential nomination.
Police went to Flynn’s Marlborough Street apartment early Wednesday and found him standing outside. He told police he’d had an argument with his girlfriend and he feared she was destroying his belongings, according to a police report.
She told officers she "was afraid of her boyfriend and that he had repeatedly beaten her during their five-year relationship," according to the report. She told them that on Jan. 10 Flynn punched her in the shoulder and ribs, breaking one of them.