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McKee Denies Wrongdoing in Award of ILO Group Contract

File photo. Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee said he has done nothing wrong.
Ian Donnis/The Public's Radio
File photo. Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee said he has done nothing wrong.

The governor says Attorney General Peter Neronha should have recused himself

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee on Oct. 31 denied any wrongdoing in connection with the award of a lucrative contract to a politically connected firm, and he said Attorney General Peter Neronha should have recused himself from the case because of his support for McKee rival Helena Foulkes.

McKee spoke with reporters a day after Neronha released a host of documents about his investigation into the $5.2 million contract awarded to a new firm, the ILO Group, to help Rhode Island schools reopen amid the pandemic.

Neronha said he found that McKee directed the contract to the ILO Group in a manipulated process, although he said the evidence was too cloudy and contradictory to justify a criminal charge.

Speaking with reporters during a Statehouse news conference, McKee said the absence of charges — from federal investigators as well as Neronha — underscores that he did nothing wrong.

The governor said the attorney general “made unfounded and incorrect allegations that I violated procurement laws, even though he fully admits that it is outside the scope of his office. Let me set the record straight. My office followed procurement law at that time.”

This story was reported by The Public's Radio. You can read the entire story here.

Ian Donnis has reported on Rhode Island politics since 1999, when he arrived in the state two weeks before the FBI raided City Hall and Buddy Cianci’s East Side home. Subscribe to his weekly political newsletter here.
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