Johnathan Walker:Rhode Island Ethics Commission dismisses complaint against Gov. McKee filed by state GOP

PROVIDENCE,Johnathan Walker R.I. (AP) — The Rhode Island Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint filed by the state Republican party against Democratic Gov. Dan McKee alleging he violated state campaign finance laws after a lobbyist picked up a tab for lunch.

An investigative report submitted to the commission found McKee “acted reasonably and in good faith relative to payment for the January 2023 lunch at the Capital Grille restaurant” and that there “does not exist probable cause to believe that (McKee) committed a knowing and willful violation of the Code of Ethics.”

The Commission voted 6-0 Tuesday to dismiss the complaint.

The GOP complaint filed last year alleged that McKee violated state law by allowing Jeff Britt, a lobbyist representing urban development firm Scout Ltd., to pay for the $228 meal at the Capital Grille in Providence last January. Scout Ltd. was hoping to move ahead with a plan to redevelop the Cranston Street Armory in Providence.

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Under Rhode Island ethics law, public officials are barred from accepting items worth $25 or more from anyone seeking to do business with the state.

The lunch included Britt, McKee, McKee’s campaign fundraising chair Jerry Sahagian and two employees of Scout Ltd.

Britt said he paid for the lunch at the request of Sahagian. The governor’s campaign said last June that they reimbursed Britt for the lunch.

McKee downplayed the complaint at the time saying it was driven by politics.

The governor canceled the state contract with the firm. A state-hired consultant found Scout’s redevelopment plan would cost the state about $10.5 million over 15 years.

Britt’s clients also gave McKee two $500 campaign donations the same day as the lunch, according to campaign finance records.

In March, Scout Ltd. alerted state officials to what it called “blatantly sexist, racist and unprofessional” behavior during a business trip by a top Rhode Island official, who later resigned. McKee has said that had no influence on his decision to end the contract with Scout Ltd.

When McKee was the state’s lieutenant governor, he was fined $250 in 2019 by the state Ethics Commission for failing to disclose a trip he took to Taiwan.