Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo talks a big game on transparency, even boasting that her administration was the “most transparent” Rhode Island has ever seen. But unfortunately for Rhode Islanders, her words don’t match her actions. Despite repeated inquiries by Rhode Island’s press corps, Raimondo still refuses to disclose details about some of her out-of-state fundraising activities, including the identities of those hosting her fundraisers. The Providence Journal reached out to her staff on multiple occasions over the past several months, but were often stonewalled on information.
The Providence Journal has more details:
“Why….. has Raimondo been unwilling to identify the hosts of the out-of-state fundraising activities that helped her amass all of these dollars?…
At 11:21 a.m. on June 8, her press secretary David Ortiz issued this statement: ‘Governor Raimondo is traveling today to New York City for meetings with supporters and to attend fundraising events. She will return to Rhode Island tomorrow.’
When asked who was hosting these fundraising events, Raimondo referred questions to her campaign finance director Kate Ramstad who told The Providence Journal: “We will release names and dates of all contributions — including any in-kind contributions — when we release our quarterly filing on July 31st.″
The quarterly report made no mention, however, of any ‘in-kind contributions,’ such as food and beverages, that would identify her hosts. Asked again who hosted the New York fundraisers, Ramstad emailed: ‘All legally required information about our campaign’s fundraising and expenses are detailed in our quarterly filings.’”
