[Mitt Romney] yesterday blamed his transportation secretary, John Cogliano, for tapping Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff to inspect repairs to the I-90 Seaport connector tunnel that collapsed July 10 and killed Milena Del Valle. Bechtel, responsible for overseeing original construction of the tunnel, is among the firms being probed in a criminal investigation.

"John wanted to get those tunnels open as fast as he could, and he got as many engineers as he could . . . and he got in six from Bechtel," Romney said, adding that he has no plans to reprimand Cogliano. "I wouldn't have done that. I think it was a mistake."

After promising transparency at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Gov. Mitt Romney and his transportation secretary, John Cogliano, have refused to answer the following questions about how Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff was hired to conduct inspections in the Big Dig tunnel where Milena Del Valle was killed: