RI Ethics Commission Will Not Pursue DeSimone Complaint
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
The Rhode Island Ethics Commission on Tuesday decided not to investigate a complaint against Rhode Island House Majority Leader John DeSimone.
The Rhode Island Progressive Democrats had filed the complaint with the Commission last week regarding what they said was DeSimone’s "failure to disclose his indebtedness to the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island for unpaid property taxes, and for his failure to disclose his income derived from the city and state for his role with United Providence, an organization that received hundreds of thousands of dollars in legislative grants in recent years."
Jason Gramitt with the Ethics Commission deemed Tuesday the facts as presented were not "sufficient to support any willful violation" on the part of DeSimone.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"The dismissal was without prejudice, however, which means they can refile," said Gramitt. "But that could not take place now during the election season, since the new law stipulates the 90 day blackout period. They would have to refile after."
Progressive Dems Respond
Sam Bell with the Progressive Democrats responded to the decision on Tuesday.
"This is exactly what's wrong with the blackout period -- so we won't have a hearing. It was dismissed on technical grounds. This is why politicians like DeSimone and [Speaker Mattiello] pushed for the blackout period," said Bell. "My guess is after the election there will have been a whole bunch of ethics issues that haven't received scrutiny. There are a lot of issues that have been simmering. I'm expecting to see a flurry of complaints, and I'm not sure what [our] priority will be."
"I think there's something wrong with politicians who can set policy -- such as changing the penalties for tax delinquents -- that someone like DeSimone can put in that bill before it was disclosed he himself was a tax delinquent," said Bell. "It's a classic case of why we need more, not less, disclosure."
Related Slideshow: Providence Elected Officials with Ethics Problems - 2016
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