AG says governor must reveal e-mail

PROVIDENCE — Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office on Wednesday ruled that Governor Daniel J. McKee must hand over an email alleging misconduct by two top state officials during a business trip to Philadelphia in March.

McKee’s office has kept the email secret, arguing that it is an investigatory record and that disclosure would be an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

But Neronha’s office concluded that any privacy interest “is outweighed by a very substantial public interest,” saying the governor’s office violated the Access to Public Records Act by withholding the e-mail, and that the document must be disclosed.

WPRI-Channel 12 has reported that the e-mail alleges unprofessional conduct during a March 10 trip to Philadelphia taken by James E. Thorsen, then director of the state Department of Administration, and David Patten, director of the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. They were visiting Scout Ltd., a company seeking to redevelop the Cranston Street Armory.

The attorney general gave McKee five business days to release the e-mail.

McKee’s press secretary, Olivia DaRocha, said, “Our office is currently reviewing the Attorney General’s decision. Separately, I can confirm for you that the incident involving Mr. Patten was referred by our office to the State Police in mid-April.”

Patten, who makes $174,490 a year, went out on medical leave on March 13, three days after the trip to Philadelphia, and he was placed on paid administrative leave, effective May 30, an administration spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Thorsen, who had already submitted his resignation before going to Philadelphia, stepped down on April 28 to return to the US Treasury Department.

WPRI and The Providence Journal filed complaints with the attorney general’s office when McKee’s office refused to release the e-mail.

After reviewing the e-mail, state prosecutors concluded the allegations are serious. “Although the individuals named in the email have some privacy interest, the fact that the email contains specific allegations of official misconduct by senior members of government diminishes the privacy interest, at least to some extent,” Assistant Attorney General Katherine Sadeck wrote.