RI General Treasurer Diossa’s Extortion Scheme Targets Critics - Ted Siedle

RI General Treasurer Diossa’s Extortion Scheme Targets Critics - Ted Siedle

Imagine you received an email from the Office of the General Treasurer of the State of Rhode Island indicating, “We have approximately 6,006 emails and documents about you personally.” Most Americans would be shocked to learn that officials of a state, such as General Treasurer James A. Diossa, had secretly amassed a virtual library of information about them—documents which almost certainly included unverified, as well as defamatory statements from multiple unreliable sources.    

 

Imagine the email went on to say, “If you would like to see those thousands of emails and documents about you, you will have to pay us an estimated prepayment cost of $7,507.50.”

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Now, if you could be certain the secret information Diossa had collected about you was correct—even complimentary, maybe you wouldn’t feel compelled to pay the thousands Diossa was demanding. On the other hand, if you had reason to be concerned that Diossa was targeting you, $7,507.50 is a lot of money to pay to find out just how damaging the secret, unverified information—very possibly collected from your worst enemies might be.

 

But the nightmare email from Diossa’s office gets even worse. “Payment of $7,507.50 does not guarantee that you will be provided with the records about you, in whole or in part.”

 

Refuse to pay the thousands demanded by Diossa, and you will get nothing. Pay Diossa thousands and some of the most damaging documents and information about you may still be withheld, he says, at this discretion.

 

Further, you are forewarned that this $7,507.50 “estimate is conservative” and should the actual search, retrieval and/or review fees exceed the prepayment, you will be required to pay even more.

 

Diossa’s sinister scheme to use state public records laws to extort money from his critics is outrageous. When big government secretly targets private citizens—usually its strongest critics—and refuses to submit to public scrutiny, no one is safe. What would you do if you learned Diossa had secretly assembled a damning dossier about you—replete with unverified, possibly defamatory information? Pay tens of thousands for… incomplete records?

 

In Rhode Island today, there’s no way private citizens can beat cunning state officials intent upon using state public records laws to extort their critics. Other states, such as Minnesota, have public records laws that specifically protect individuals seeking information from the state about themselves.

 

Ironically, with respect to my particular records, I already have documents from other state sources suggesting Rhode Island officials have been communicating with other states about undermining, or thwarting investigations into pension wrongdoing nationally initiated by state workers. Nevertheless, even if I were to pay Diossa the thousands he demands, Diossa’s email makes it very clear there is no assurance I will receive the most damning documents.