Mattiello Ordered To Repay PAC Money: State Board Of Elections

CRANSTON, RI—House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello has been ordered to repay some $72,000 to his Political Action Committee, Richard E. Thornton said Wednesday. According to Thornton, director of campaign finance for the state Board of Elections, the board on Tuesday night also voted to warn Mattiello not to violate the campaign laws again.

The campaign finance case stems from a complaint lodged by the Republicans in connection with Democrat Mattiello's 2016 race against Steven Frias for the House District 15 seat. Frias lost by 85 votes, but Brandon Bell, the Republican Party chairman, alleged Mattiello had broken campaign finance laws.

The PAC case was one of two matters the board acted on Tuesday night involving Mattiello. In the second matter, the board voted to warn the House Speaker and Shawna Lawton, an unsuccessful candidate for the District 15 seat, not to make or accept campaign contributions that exceeded the legal limit. Lawton lost to Frias in the Primary but then sent a mailer saying she was throwing her support to Mattiello. But she failed to report the expense within the required time. Mattiello since repaid the money, and the board was unable to find a direct connection between the Speaker and Lawton.

The board is still investigating Mattiello's aides and voted "to schedule show-cause hearings against Jeffrey Britt, Matt Jerzyk, Teresa Graham and Shawna Lawton as to why they should not be held in contempt for failure to answer subpoenas issued by the Board."

In the PAC case, the board voted to accept the consent order. According to the consent order, Mattiello was allowed to use $1,000 from his PAC, the Fund for Democratic Leadership, but he overspent the limit by more than $71,000. He used the money to make contributions to other campaigns, to hire consultants for his own bid for re-election and to pay for advertising on GoLocal Prov.