After Weeks of Intense Criticism, Dem Gov Gina Raimondo Forced to Release Secret Fundraising Agreement

After facing two weeks of harsh criticism for refusing to release details on a “secret” fundraising deal with the Providence Democratic City Committee, Rhode Island Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo has finally decided to release a copy of her joint fundraising agreement to the public. Though the document was only two pages in length, it took the filing of an ethics complaint, threats of a legislative response from state lawmakers, and a scathing editorial from the Providence Journal, the state’s largest newspaper, just to get Raimondo to meet her basic obligations of transparency.

This represents just the latest example of why Raimondo has earned the title of America’s least transparent governor. Despite her claims that her administration has been “the most transparent Rhode Island has ever seen,” her actions to continue to provide evidence to the contrary as she has repeatedly refused to release details on her fundraising activities, pushes phony job numbers to bolster her lackluster record, and appears unable take responsibility for the state’s scandal-plagued child welfare agency. And now, after only coming clean with details of a fundraising agreement following weeks of intense criticism, Raimondo continues to show how little regard she has for being accountable to those she was elected to govern.