RI attorney general finds Governor McKee directed contract against rules

PROVIDENCE — In a report released Tuesday, Attorney General Peter F. Neronha concluded that Gov. Daniel J. McKee violated procurement rules when managing a multimillion-dollar state contract with a new firm with ties to McKee, but also found there was insufficient evidence to file The governor was accused of bribery.

The long-awaited report stems from McKee management’s investigation into a controversial contract worth up to $5.17 million. ILO GroupA consulting firm founded two days later McKee takes office in 2021.

“The Governor and his administration failed to comply with state procurement rules and regulations – the evidence of which is clear and seriously indisputable,” prosecutors said, and McKee ignored the findings of the state review team.

However, according to Neronha’s report, the attorney general’s office does not enforce state procurement rules; determines whether a crime has been committed or not. And in this case, investigators were investigating whether the ILO convention decision violated the state’s bribery law.

“At the end of the day, to bring a criminal bribery case, this office needs clear evidence, beyond inference and conjecture, that Governor McKee awarded government contracts to the ILO in exchange for a direct, personal benefit to the Governor,” prosecutors wrote. . “The evidence developed here does not establish this point beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The ILO’s lawyer, former US Attorney General Robert Clark Corrente, said in a statement on Tuesday: “The Attorney General’s report confirmed what we have maintained all along: There was absolutely no wrongdoing by the ILO Group or any of its staff. “We are pleased that this matter has concluded and the ILO Group looks forward to continuing its work supporting public education across the country.”

Prosecutors said the real question is whether McKee diverted a multimillion-dollar, federally funded government contract to Julia Rafal-Baer’s ILO Group in exchange for Chiefs of Change, a group led by Rafal-Baer and close McKee associate Michael C. Magee. national public relations firm SKDK will provide services to McKee.

The report notes that Magee was a longtime informal adviser and supporter of McKee, a Democrat who advocated for charter schools, known as “mayoral academies,” when he was mayor of Cumberland. They worked together at Rhode Island mayoral academies and Cumberland’s Office of Children, Youth and Learning.

The report notes that in 2021, Magee served as CEO of Chiefs for Change, a nonprofit education network comprised of leaders from state and district education systems. Rafal-Baer served as chief operating officer of Chiefs for Change and was a close associate of Magee. Chiefs for Change worked with SKDK on education-related projects in Rhode Island in 2020.

Prosecutors concluded in the investigation that McKee took steps to ensure the ILO was awarded the “School Reopening Contract” despite the findings of state contracting authorities and accepted communication services from SKDK for which he had not paid. “This is clear from the evidence and cannot be seriously disputed,” they said.

But to convict McKee of taking a bribe, prosecutors wrote, he had to establish a “reciprocity” (this and that in return) between the person offering the bribe and the public official. And they said the investigation did not find sufficient evidence to prove such a response beyond a reasonable doubt.

“There was no reference, express or implied, in the communications we reviewed (emails, text messages) or information provided during multiple witness interviews that such an understanding existed,” prosecutors wrote.

The report stated that prosecuting a bribery charge “will need to rely on a number of circumstantial evidence and inferences regarding the award of the contract to the ILO and the receipt of the services of the SKDK.” “This is not enough to meet our burden of proof – beyond a reasonable doubt – in a criminal case.”

Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at [email protected]. follow him @FitzProv. Steph Machado can be reached at [email protected]. follow him @StephMachado.