Raimondo, Who Campaigned For Fox, Plugs For Mattiello - After Saying He “Didn’t Follow The Rules”
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo — who in 2012 campaigned for former Speaker and now-convicted felon Gordon Fox — has endorsed Speaker Nicholas Mattiello in the District 15 House Race, touting that he "took action" during the coronavirus crisis.
In a mailer released by the Mattiello campaign this week, the communication references a national article from July touting "How the Smallest State Engineered a Big Covid Comeback."
As of last Friday, Rhode Island had the second-highest unemployment rate in the United States. This Friday, Rhode Island was listed among states now at risk for an outbreak.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Speaker Mattiello was instrumental in ensuring Rhode Island was a leader in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping Rhode Islanders safe, providing the necessary funding in the supplemental budget, and looking out for small businesses,” said Raimondo in the mailer to District 15 voters in Cranston.
Raimondo Previously on Mattiello: He Didn't Follow The Rules
Eight months earlier, Raimondo was asserting that Mattiello “didn’t follow the rules,” when it came to his ordering of the Rhode Island Convention Center audit — which resulted in the convening of a grand jury.
In January, GoLocal exclusively obtained a copy of a letter by Amanda Marzullo Wilmouth, the then-Assistant General Manager of the Convention Center alleging years of verbal and mental abuse by former fellow Convention Center executive James Demers.
Demers, a retired Rhode Island State Trooper, is a close associate of Mattiello — who intervened with Convention Center officials on Demers’ behalf.
“It’s clear that he didn’t follow the rules. The rules are there to be followed. [Mattiello] went out of his way to order an audit without following the rules. That’s a problem,” Raimondo had told WPRI. “If he did anything criminal, we’ll let the state police figure that out.”
Mattiello faces GOP challenger Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung in November.
"It appears that Mattiello has a high tolerance for accusations of sexual harassment, because outside of the accusations against Demers at the Convention Center, he also knew about accusations of sexual harassment against Cale Keable and kept him on as Chair of Judiciary," said Fenton-Fung. "I personally think Raimondo's de facto endorsement has more to do with the fact that he's letting her do whatever she wants, but it is disappointing when you stop and consider Mattiello's record with women."
"If I were Gina Raimondo, I'd love Mattiello, too, since he's been MIA and is letting her just roll right over him," said Fenton-Fung. "Of course she would endorse knowing that he is letting her have all that power."
"I personally think the fact that Mattiello even asked the Governor [for support] demonstrates his weakness in his own Democratic party, after other party leaders have tried to distance themselves from him and his ring of corruption," added Fenton-Fung.
"Joe Biden's team rejected his endorsement back in the primaries, with his spokesman wondering out loud on Twitter if they were the only campaign that vetted people," she said. "Then you have his fellow Speaker Sara Gideon, the East Greenwich native running against Senator Susan Collins in Maine, who returned [Mattiello's] donation to her, followed by Cranston's Democratic nominee for Mayor, Maria Bucci, who declined to endorse him. They understand the corruption that surrounds Mattiello and want no part of it."
Mattiello Claims -- And Raimondo's Latest Speaker Endorsement
The mailer sent out this week with Raimondo’s endorsement says Mattiello provided “key funding to cities and towns, maintained cash flow for the state, helped small businesses get loans, and connected residents with social services and benefits."
When asked how Mattiello was directly responsible for action items listed, Mattiello campaign spokesperson Patti Doyle provided the following.
“[The Speaker passed] the supplemental budget provided necessary and immediate aid to cities and towns. For example, the House added $50 million in aid to schools which was made possible by federal monies under the CARES Act. Cranston's share of this funding was $2.76 million,” said Doyle. “He participated in a meeting with the Disaster Emergency Funding Board to ensure the state’s cash flow was maintained.”
“He and many General Assembly members met and/or spoke with constituents to help them navigate unemployment benefits, many of whom were accessing this benefit for the very first time,” she added. “He and many General Assembly members worked with small businesses in their districts to make sure they were accessing available Disaster Relief loans and grants made available via the SBA and R.I. Commerce Corp.”
Fenton-Fung, however, fired back.
"Mattiello has been admittedly bored at home during the pandemic, but still punted the state budget until after the election," said Fenton-Fung. "When pressed on plans [at a Friday debate], he said he wouldn't be sharing those budget plans with all of us in the public. Instead of preparing a state budget, he's preparing his testimony for next week's felony money laundering trial centering around his 2016 campaign. It's clear that he can't get his car tax across the finish line, because if he could he would've done it already and take credit. That's what insider politicians like him do."
Mattiello is the now-second Speaker Raimondo has thrown her support behind.
In 2012, Raimondo supported then-Speaker Fox, who faced a challenge from independent Mark Binder, who had criticized Fox's handling of the 38 Studios deal as well as Fox's unwillingness — until then — to bring same-sex marriage to a vote.
In March 2014, Fox’s State House office was raided by the FBI and IRS; in 2015, Fox was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison for stealing $108,000 donated by campaign supporters to pay for personal expenses; accepting a $52,000 bribe to advocate and move for issuance of a liquor license for East Side Restaurant Shark while serving as Vice-Chairman of the City of Providence Board of Licenses in 2008; and failing to account for these illegal sources of income on his tax returns.
In 2012, Binder had engaged campaign operative Jeff Britt — who has also been utilized by Raimondo — and is now facing a political corruption trial for his work on the Mattiello campaign.
