Projo Politics Blog

The state Democratic party is calling on Governor Carcieri to disclose who is paying for his legal defense before the state Ethics Commission as it investigates whether the governor broke anti-nepotism rules in hiring his niece for a state job.

Initially, the governor's chief legal counsel Kernan F. King, was doing the job, arguing on Carcieri's behalf at a June 17 commission meeting.

But when the commission yesterday announced its plan to investigate whether Carcieri violated state nepotism codes, King was replaced by private lawyers Christopher S. Gontarz and Thomas M. Dickinson. The pair also filed a related motion in the case on Monday.

"First the governor had his state-financed legal counsel representing him on this matter and now he has gone out and retained two additional lawyers," Democratic party chairman William Lynch said in a statement today. "Does the governor really need three lawyers in this matter when his hands are clearly caught in the cookie jar?"

"The taxpayers of Rhode Island deserve to know who is footing the bill for these lawyers and how much it is costing them," Lynch said.

Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe did not immediately return calls this afternoon regarding who is footing the governor's legal bills.

This is the fourth time since 2004 that the Ethics Commission has ordered a formal investigation into whether the governor violated state ethics rules. The governor has already settled three other, unrelated ethics cases by paying fines.

This time, the commission is looking into Carcieri's hiring of Stephanie Accaputo, the daughter of his wife's brother and a staffer on Carcieri's 2002 campaign for governor. Accaputo was hired shortly after the campaign wrapped up in late 2002 to work in the governor's constituent affairs office. She is now an administrative support specialist in that office making $52,119.

 

 Tags  Carcieri ethics commission nepotism laws Rhode Island Democratic Party Stephanie Accaputo

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