WPRO News

Governor Dan McKee’s free lunch last January with a lobbyist and principals of a since-terminated would-be re-developer of the Cranston Street Armory is the subject of an investigation by the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.

Members of the Commission voted 5-0 behind closed doors Tuesday morning to initiate the investigation by the Commission staff, which has six months to conduct its probe.

The investigation is a result of a complaint that was filed by the state Republican Party.

“The Ethics Commission needs to expose Rhode Island’s pay-to-play political culture,” said state GOP party Chairman Joseph Powers in a statement, adding, “Rhode Island is in a state of embarrassment.”

“The campaign reiterates that this complaint is politically…not ethically…motivated by the GOP,” said McKee campaign spokesman Mike Trainor in a statement. “The campaign looks forward to the conduct and conclusion of the investigation by the Ethics Commission.”

The lunch, last January at the Capital Grill with lobbyist Jeff Britt and leaders of the Philadelphia-based Scout was paid for by Britt, who said he forgot to seek reimbursement from the McKee campaign. Later, the campaign reimbursed Britt for the $228 cost of the lunch.

The state ethics code prohibits public officials from accepting anything valued above $25.