BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is slamming her disgraced ex-aide LaMar Cook and the defiant defense of his SNAP benefits — which partially funded his recent trip to Walt Disney World — and for saying he “earned” the $31,000 contract buyout mistakenly paid out by her office.

“Lamar Cook should never have been hired. His actions continue to be outrageous and despicable. It’s why we’ve gone after him to make sure that any money he was paid out comes back to the state. And, he needs to be held fully accountable by the full extent of the law. But it’s outrageous and disgusts me,” Healey said of Cook saying he “earned” the lucrative contract buyout and won’t pay it back.

Following a pre-trial hearing Wednesday related to a laundry list of drug and gun charges he is facing, Cook said he “earned” the $31,000 payout from his unused vacation time, something the Executive Office of Administration and Finance says he was not entitled to due to being fired with cause.

“It’s my vacation time. I earned it over a decade of service to the Commonwealth,” said a defiant Cook.

The state has not been able to claw the money back as Cook has already spent it and has expressed his intent to not pay it back.

The Herald also asked Healey about Cook’s SNAP benefits and his family vacation to Disney World as he dines on the taxpayer’s dime.

“Disgusting, right?” Healey said when asked by the Herald about Cook’s SNAP benefits and his use of them on a recent family vacation to Disney World.

“SNAP is a federal program, they set the rules for it. But, in my view, he shouldn’t be receiving SNAP benefits. I’ve called for an investigation. The DTA is investigating at my direction. I directed them to investigate, and they are doing that. And I also welcome the auditor’s investigation of this,” she said.

Healey was responding to Cook’s Wednesday answers to several questions from the Herald about that Disney trip, one partially funded by his SNAP benefits while he dined at swanky and expensive restaurants like Disney Springs STK Steakhouse.

“I loved it. It was a great time. Had a family reunion,” Cook said. “I have no income, okay? So, I think anyone who’s facing hardships in the Commonwealth and has no income (should receive benefits). But, the real question is how that information was leaked, information that should not be leaked to the public. What’s next, medical records?”

Cook even went on to vow to take even more destination vacations after being pressed by reporters, while also admittedly being without an income and eating on the taxpayer’s dime.

“Yeah. Yep. A bunch. I’m sure I’m sure you’ll be watching,” Cook told the Herald.

His attorney, Kedar Ismail, jumped in to defend his client, who he says has unfairly “had his life probed into” by the news media ever since his arrest. Ismail even went on to liken coverage of his client’s criminal charges and public benefits to being motivated by race.

“How many other people do they watch who spend SNAP benefits outside of Disney World and then bring it into race and other issues?” Ismail said. “The pulse of what’s going on in some of the different news outlets and platforms of things that have tried to glom everything together that have no type of connection or no nexus.”

The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) says Cook is eligible to receive SNAP benefits under current rules and regulations, saying the state is prohibited from denying benefits to someone in Cook’s legal situation.

“Eligibility rules for SNAP are controlled by the federal government. Under federal regulations, DTA is prohibited from barring someone with pending criminal charges from SNAP eligibility,” a DTA spokesperson told the Herald when asked why Cook is allowed to be spending his EBT card over one thousand miles out of state.

“SNAP is 100% federally funded. These are federal dollars,” they said.

The embattled former Healey staffer, through his attorney, also maintained that the $1 million lottery ticket his mother, Sabrinna Marshall, won just 10 days following his release on a reduced bail, is coincidental and “just good luck.”

“The fact that someone would try to liken a random winning to some,” Ismail said, before being called on labeling the winnings as “random.”

“It’s also caused some blessings too. So, I mean, her life has nothing to do with this situation,” Ismail argued.

Cook had been released on a reduced $25,000 bail in March, down from the original $75,000 bail he had been held on since his arrest. Just 10 days later, Cook’s mother, Sabrinna Marshall, won $1 million on a new state lottery ticket game, also becoming the game’s first-ever million-dollar prize winner, the Massachusetts State Lottery says. She took the one-time payment option to take home $650,000 before taxes.

“Marshall chose the cash option on her prize and received a one-time payment of $650,000 (before taxes). She plans to help family and make home improvements with the winnings. She purchased her winning ticket at Big Y, 441 North Main St. in East Longmeadow,” MassLottery said in a press release announcing the winnings.

Cook was serving as Healey’s Western Mass. Deputy Director when he was arrested in October after State Police say they intercepted a package containing nearly eight kilograms, or about 18 pounds, of cocaine shipped to his office. He was originally ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing following his arraignment at Springfield District Court. His case was elevated to the Superior Court level following his indictment Feb. 12.

Healey immediately fired Cook upon his arrest, calling the allegations against him “a major breach of public trust” and “unacceptable.”

Cook is next due in court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 23.

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