RI Officials Investigating Governor's Free Lunch With Lobbyist: Report

PROVIDENCE, RI — The R.I. Ethics Commission has opened an investigation to determine whether Governor Dan McKee violated state law by accepting a free lunch with a lobbyist in January, according to WPRI.

The subject was raised in a complaint filed last month by the Rhode Island Republican Party, which said that McKee was one of a few people who were treated by Jeffrey Britt—a lobbyist for state vendor Scout Ltd.—to a dinner totaling $228 at The Capital Grille Restaurant. The lunch also involved Jerry Sahagian, who was McKee’s campaign fundraising chairman, and two employees for Scout, according to the complaint.

Britt said he paid for the lunch at the request of Sahagian, who told Britt to send the McKee campaign an invoice for the lunch for reimbursement, the complaint said. But, according to the complaint, the McKee campaign “failed to remind” Britt to send the invoice.

Five months later, once the media picked up the story of McKee's free lunch, the McKee campaign sent Britt a payment for the cost of the lunch, the complaint said.

In the complaint, the Rhode Island Republican Party noted that McKee's political power could possibly affect funding for Scout, a state vendor seeking $55 million to redevelop the Cranston Street Armory.

As a result, the cost of a single gift from "an interested person to a public official cannot exceed $25." Since the cost of the lunch totaled $228, the cost of McKee's lunch was likely over $25, the complaint said; and since he or his team did not "immediately" return the gift or reimburse the cost, he violated the Ethics Code.

"McKee is ultimately responsible for the actions and inactions of his campaign team," the complaint said. "Apparently, McKee only planned to pay Britt if Britt requested reimbursement for the lunch. However, McKee was under a legal obligation to reimburse Britt regardless of whether Britt sought payment or not."

The complaint ended with a reference to the old adage, "There's no such thing as a free lunch."

"If the Ethics Commission does not fine Governor McKee, that saying will need to be changed to: 'There’s no such thing as a free lunch unless you’re a Rhode Island politician,'" the complaint concluded.