Gov. Dan McKee defends his involvement in the awarding of a $5.2 million school reopening contract to the ILO Group in 2021 while speaking to the media in the Governor’s State Room at the State House on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 31, 2024. (Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)
The conclusion of a state criminal investigation into a multimillion education contract awarded by Gov. Dan McKee’s administration has reawakened a feud between the governor and Attorney General Peter Neronha.
A day after Neronha outlined the findings of the joint investigation by his office and Rhode Island State Police — yielding insufficient evidence for criminal charges but plenty of insinuations of wrongdoing by McKee and his advisers — McKee fired back at a State House press conference Thursday afternoon.
“It’s clear he’s got a political motive,” McKee said of Neronha. “Peter Neronha should have recused himself [from the investigation.] Instead, he pitched a lengthy editorial to the media under the guise of a report, a response the U.S. Attorney’s office said it would have never created.”
McKee gestured to a quote projected on the screen beside him with a response that Jim Martin, spokesperson for the Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s office, previously gave reporters regarding the federal side of the probe.
“As a matter of general principle and longstanding practice, the Department of Justice does not comment upon matters that it does not litigate or charge,” Martin said.
McKee also referenced an April 2024 profile piece on Neronha published by Rhode Island Monthly, in which the attorney general said he voted for McKee’s primary opponent, Helena Buonanno Foulkes, in 2022, and still talked to Foulkes often.
“He clearly doesn’t want me to be in office,” McKee said of Neronha. “He’s continually trying to undermine me.”
Neronha in his own, hourlong press conference Wednesday morning acknowledged his longstanding beef with McKee but said it had no influence over the investigation. Neronha emphasized McKee was cleared of criminal charges, but also said the governor displayed “hamhanded-ness” in handling the school reopening contract in question.
Peter Neronha should have recused himself. Instead, he pitched a lengthy editorial to the media under the guise of a report, a response the U.S. Attorney’s office said it would have never created.
– Gov. Dan McKee
Questions over the $5.2 million deal awarded to ILO Group in July 2021 prompted a three-year long state probe into McKee, his advisers, and the leaders of the bidding company, results of which were first shared Tuesday.
What state investigators found fell short of the standard of proof needed to press criminal charges. Nonetheless, the trove of text messages, emails, witness interviews and other documents suggest McKee “steered” the money to ILO Group — versus the less expensive bidder recommended by the procurement team — while also benefiting from $90,000 worth of in-kind consulting services from a firm indirectly connected to ILO.
McKee says moment demanded action
McKee adamantly denied any wrongdoing or unkosher involvement on his part in the state precedent. Standing below a portrait of George Washington in the Governor’s State Room at the State House, McKee painted himself as a wartime leader battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indeed, his rise to the governorship, created by then-Gov. Gina Raimondo’s appointment as U.S. Commerce Secretary, in March 2021 came as Rhode Island was still struggling with rising deaths and illness and a slow rollout of vaccines, along with educational and economic consequences.
The contract to ILO aimed to help reopen schools and set up programming for students suffering from learning losses. McKee acknowledged he was aggressive in trying to get the contract out the door, but in no way overstepped his bounds.
“Our kids were at risk in terms of academic, physical health and mental health,” McKee said. “The motivation behind my actions was to get the support to our schools, teachers and students who needed it urgently.”
And, according to McKee, it worked. The contract helped with immediate education needs and also led to subsequent programming in his administration, such as municipal learning centers and student attendance initiatives.
The state ultimately cut the ILO contract short halfway through its one-year tenure, though, paying ILO $1.8 million. McKee on Thursday said public scrutiny surrounding the contract “drove them out” of the state, and caused ILO’s leaders, along with members of his administration, to face personal attacks and career setbacks.
Julia Rafal-Baer, co-founder of ILO and a key character in the investigation narrative, still serves as company CEO, according to its website. Mike Magee, McKee’s adviser who worked alongside Rafal-Baer in a separate education firm called Chiefs for Change, now serves as president of Minerva University in San Francisco.
Among the most damning exchanges included in the state investigative report was a March 23, 2021, email Rafal-Baer sent to an out-of-state colleague, the same day the state issued its solicitation for the reopening contract.
“It’s a fixed RFP and I know the person it’s fixed for,” Rafael-Baer wrote, with a winky-face emoji.
McKee’s response?
“She’s wrong,” he said. “It wasn’t a fixed contract.”
McKee also denied any knowledge of or involvement in the $90,000 payment Chiefs for Change gave SKDK, a political consulting firm that advised McKee during the first six months of 2021.
What’s next?
Government watchdog Common Cause Rhode Island is considering filing an ethics complaint against McKee for the in-kind services he received from SKDK, which could violate state ethics laws barring public officials from accepting gifts over $25. Neronha’s office also looked into the state ethics code as part of its investigation, but did not consult with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.
John Marion, executive director for Common Cause, issued a statement after McKee’s press conference concluded.
“Common Cause doesn’t need anyone’s permission to hold power accountable,” Marion said.
Marion also called for legislation preventing “political interference” in the procurement process, along with stricter campaign finance laws, both of which are policy priorities for Common Cause.
Jason Gramitt, executive director and chief prosecutor for the state ethics panel, said in an email Thursday that his staff was also looking over the findings from the state investigation.
“Beyond that, I have no comment at this time,” Gramitt wrote.
McKee insisted that any additional probes would end with a similar exoneration.
“They could open this till hell freezes over, and they will not find any level of fraud or any level of bribery,” McKee said.
Brian Hodge, a spokesperson for Neronha, said in an email Thursday the attorney general stands by his previous comments made at his own press conference.
However, Neronha fired back via his personal X account.
“ILO: Republicans say we covered for McKee. McKee says it was a witch-hunt. Guess we got it right,” Neronha wrote on Thursday morning, just after McKee appeared on WPRO to talk about the ILO findings with Gene Valicenti. “Memo to McKee: better read RISP Detective Sgt. Mike Brock’s report again.”
McKee told Valicenti, and repeated for reporters at his press conference, that he refused to be interviewed for the investigation because he “didn’t trust” Neronha’s motives.
Neronha’s response on X: “This is incredibly insulting to the State Police. And if Gov is going trick or treating tonight he should wear Pinocchio’s nose.”
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