“It’s a Process I Have Zero to Do With,” Says Mattiello — As Top Staffers Testify Before Grand Jury
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Rhode Island Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello said that he has “nothing to do” with the grand jury convened to investigate his ordering of an audit of the Rhode Island Convention Center.
This week, top Mattiello staffers Leo Skenyon and Frank Montanaro are appearing before a grand jury as it relates to Mattiello ordering the audit, which members of the Convention Center Authority board called political retribution after a close friend of Mattiello’s — James Demers — was placed on leave.
“It’s a process I have zero to do with,” said Mattiello Wednesday, before speaking at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce lunch. “Someone else makes those determinations, they’re free to do whatever they think is appropriate under the circumstances. I leave them to their good judgment and I do my job each and every day.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMattiello said he has not been subpoenaed.
“I have not been subpoenaed — I shouldn’t be, but who knows. It’s not my decision so we go with whatever someone else’s decision is. There’s a process, I’m an officer of the court, I comply with all processes," said Mattiello.
When GoLocal asked if he thought the grand jury process was a distraction to his office, Mattiello said “absolutely not.”
“We’re conducting business and I’m very confident in all outcomes,” said Mattiello.
Latest Surrounding Convention Center Authority Audit Order
As GoLocal previously reported:
Members of the board of the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, as well as at least one member of the Convention Center Authority staff, have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in the probe into Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello’s order to audit the agency, GoLocal has learned.
In January, Mattiello ordered the audit after close friend James Demers, who had been a security director at the time, was placed on administrative leave, after a top female executive at the Convention Center Authority reported harassment and abuse by Demers.
The Convention Center called the audit “illegal” — and asked Rhode Island State Police Superintendent James Manni to investigate.
In a letter signed by the Chair of the Convention Center Authority Board Bernie Buonanno and James McCarville, Executive Director, they wrote in part, “Given that we are already subject to an annual financial audit which is posted to our website and provided to the Governor, House of Representatives, Senate, Auditor General, among others, and that this most recent audit request was issued and then rescinded, the Convention Center Authority requests a formal investigation by the State Police into the nexus of this request, the motivation behind it and if any laws were broken in the process.”
As GoLocal first reported, the Rhode Island State Police were looking into the matter at the time of the Convention Center Authority request.
The Rhode Island Attorney General’s office has not commented on the subpoenas or grand jury.
Role of JCLS in Question
Following the ordering of the audit, Rhode Island House Republican Leader Blake Filippi filed a lawsuit in Rhode Island Superior Court that called the audit of the Rhode Island Convention Center illegal.
The audit was ordered by the Joint Committee on Legislative Services (JCLS) — a committee controlled by Mattiello and has not met in years.
Mattiello ultimately rescinded the audit request. On Tuesday, Mattiello spokesperson Larry Berman declined comment on the grand jury.
The issuing of the subpoenas were first reported by WPRI.com.
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