‘We can and must do better’: RI leaders react after report exposes McKee’s role in ILO deal
by: Eli Sherman
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha said Wednesday he released a damaging report that revealed Gov. Dan McKee’s direct involvement in the ILO Group scandal because the public deserved to know what had happened, even in the absence of criminal charges.
“The work that we disclosed yesterday demonstrates that there’s a need for in some cases like this to obtain the facts and share what we find with the public,” Neronha told reporters Wednesday. “The work that we did together was a public service, and the public can use it to whatever end they like.”
The rationale, however, is already facing criticism from multiple perspectives.
Some are expressing frustration with the attorney general for not charging the governor after his report showed McKee “personally and directly intervened” to make sure the consulting firm ILO Group got a lucrative state contract in 2021, despite a review panel’s recommendation that the work go to a different firm.
“Once again, we see Democrats protecting Democrats,” Rhode Island GOP Chairman Joe Powers said in a statement. “It’s the same, tired story in Rhode Island politics – a ruling class looking out for each other while the rest of us are left to deal with their poor decisions and self-serving priorities.”
Neronha shot back at Powers on social media: “This may be one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever read. It’s insulting. If you have a different analysis of the facts let’s hear it. What a joke.”
McKee, meanwhile, expressed frustration with the length of time the attorney general and the state police spent investigating the case, which dates back to September 2021. The criminal investigation has been a political headache for the governor throughout his time in office.
“It’s unfortunate that so much time and taxpayer dollars were wasted on an effort that was always going to come up empty, but now it’s important that we all move forward and continue focusing on the issues that are impacting Rhode Islanders every day,” McKee said in a statement.
‘It’s never personal’
McKee has been out of sight since the report emerged Tuesday.
His staff listed no public events on his daily schedule Wednesday, and he canceled a previously planned interview on 12 News at 4 within hours of the report coming out. His office said he plans to attend a public meeting of the R.I. Commerce Corp. on Thursday morning.
McKee’s spokesperson wasn’t immediately able to say where he was early Wednesday afternoon, and he didn’t emerge to talk to reporters camped outside his State House offices throughout the day.
12 News political analyst Joe Fleming said that while it’s good news for the governor that no criminal charges came out of Neronha’s investigation, he could still be hurt politically, as the report showed the governor had a high level of involvement in the contract being awarded to ILO — despite him saying otherwise.
McKee has long said publicly that he played no role in determining who won the contract, and that the process was competitive and fair. But the report shows he personally intervened when a state panel wanted to give the contract to a different consultant, WestEd, that offered to do the work for millions of dollars less.
And Fleming said that could be a problem for McKee, who is already facing low job approval ratings in opinion polls, and give his political opponents new fodder to use against him in the future. McKee has said he intends to seek another term in 2026.
“The governor said he had no knowledge of what was going on, but the report shows that he did have knowledge of what was going on,” Fleming said Wednesday. “Politically, that could be the bad part because sometimes it’s not the facts — it’s the perception. The perception is that he knew this, so why is he telling people he didn’t know anything about it?”
McKee’s allies privately argue that the attorney general has played politics with the ILO investigation because of his well-known antipathy toward the governor. Neronha regularly criticizes McKee’s leadership and has already expressed support for his political rival Helena Foulkes, who nearly defeated McKee in 2022 and is set to run again in 2026.
Neronha acknowledged Wednesday he doesn’t get along with the governor, calling their relationship “not very good.” But he insisted that didn’t affect the ILO investigation.
“I don’t think there’s ever been an elected official that we’ve investigated that has appreciated being investigated,” Neronha said. “But it’s never personal for me. It’s the job that we have to do.”
Neronha’s decision to release the ILO report isn’t atypical for high-profile investigations.
He did the same at the end of his investigations involving McKee’s former chief of staff, Tony Silva, and his current head of the R.I. Division of Motor Vehicles, Bud Craddock. Both resulted in no charges.
Outside of politics, Neronha issued a similar report when he announced no charges against a Providence police officer involved in a 2020 moped crash that left Jhamal Gonsalves critically injured and sparked protests.
He also did so when he cleared a different Providence officer after cell phone video showed him shooting a man in the eye with a less-lethal projectile during the Providence riot of 2020. The man lost his eye.
“The public has the right, I believe, to know what happened,” he said about the ILO investigation. Nobody, including the governor, has disputed the details outlined in the report, he added.
Rhode Island ACLU executive director Steven Brown agreed with Neronha, highlighting that the state has a balancing test between people’s privacy and the public’s right to know.
The legal principle — in basic terms — means that public disclosure should outweigh individuals’ rights to privacy in instances of high public interest.
“If the investigation was conducted in good faith and the results present information that has a strong public interest component, we believe it should be made public,” Brown said.
‘Anything but fair’
Beyond politics and the attorney general’s motivations, it’s yet to be seen what — if any — other ripple effects come out of the attorney general’s ILO report.
Common Cause Rhode Island executive director John Marion disagreed with Neronha’s analysis that the evidence didn’t show a violation of the state’s Code of Ethics. He called the report “damning,” and said his organization would be examining whether the governor’s conduct violated specific sections of the law that deal with issues of public corruption.
“While the attorney general ultimately chose not to bring charges under the state’s bribery statute, we take issue with his conclusion that Governor McKee cannot be prosecuted under the state’s Code of Ethics,” Marion said. “The attorney general is not the state’s prosecutor under that law, the staff of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission serves in that role.”
Neronha acknowledged his office didn’t focus heavily on whether to bring misdemeanor charges against the governor and his team, saying his office is most interested in felony offenses when it comes to public corruption.
“We analyzed the ethics laws to an extent, but let me be clear, to the extent there is a campaign finance or ethics violation — that would be a misdemeanor,” he said. “This office is not — how do I put this? We are focused on very, very serious misconduct when it comes to government officials.”
Neronha examined the ILO case under the lens of the state’s bribery charge, and he said the evidence was too murky to prove quid pro quo beyond a reasonable doubt.
But he also said the state’s laws are limited, highlighting the lack of any bid-rigging statutes, which raises questions about what consequences there are to steering any major state contract.
“The law is the law,” Neronha said. “We analyze the facts in the context of the law and try to explain it in the best way we could.”
Marion suggested the General Assembly should take another look at strengthening its procurement laws, and Neronha on Wednesday expressed some support for the state creating a position of an inspector general, who could serve as a watchdog of government. The idea has long had the backing of Republican leaders, who hold little power in the General Assembly.
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, both Democrats, offered a tepid reaction to the attorney general’s findings.
“We appreciate the thorough and diligent work of the Office of Attorney General and the Rhode Island State Police throughout the ILO investigation,” the legislative leaders said in a joint statement. “Their work will continue to inform the General Assembly’s efforts on oversight and accountability in the procurement process.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Louis DiPalma led a 2021 legislative oversight effort into the ILO contract and went on to sponsor legislation that tightened some aspects of the procurement process. After seeing the ILO report Tuesday, he said, “All Rhode Islanders deserve better.”
“They expect, demand and respectfully deserve a government which deals fairly, is open and most definitely transparent,” DiPalma, D-Middletown, said in a statement. “The process followed, and ultimate award to the ILO Group, was anything but fair, open and transparent. We can and must do better.”
Watch Wednesday’s full news conference below.
Eli Sherman (esherman@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook.
Tim White and Ted Nesi contributed to this report.