Firms Sued by RI for Washington Bridge Failure Made Big Donations to RI Politicians

Firms Sued by RI for Washington Bridge Failure Made Big Donations to RI Politicians

The State of Rhode Island claims that 13 construction, engineering, and consulting firms were negligent and guilty of breach of contract, and those very firms have a rich history of their executives pumping nearly $120,000 into Rhode Island politicians' campaign accounts.

Many of the donations were made around the period in which contracts were being awarded.

And a number of the companies have kept the money taps open with a constant flow of contributions to the most powerful in Rhode Island.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

The big winners in the donation game were former Governor Gina Raimondo and now-Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi. Ramondo received more than $50,000.

Today, Raimondo is the U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Joe Biden.

Shekarchi was a double winner as thousands of dollars in donations flowed to both his personal campaign account and thousands more to Shekarchi’s “Rhode Island Good Government PAC.”

Shekarchi created the PAC in 2010 and presently has a balance of $386,929.46. 

His candidate campaign account has a balance of $ 2,826,301.91. Both balances are as of July 31, 2024.

 

 

Here is a breakdown of which of these firms is being sued by the state of Rhode Island, which firms' executives gave the most, and who were the big recipients of the donations.

We asked the major elected officials and candidates about political donations from employees and executives of the companies that the state claims in its lawsuit contributed to the failure of the Washington Bridge.

Their responses are at the bottom of the article.

 

AECOM

AECOM poured nearly $40,000 into Rhode Island politicians' campaign accounts.

The biggest winner was Raimondo. She received $23,400 from AECOM executives, and as the political donations came in at the same time, AECOM generated millions in RIDOT contracts.

Shekarchi received $1,250 in donations from AECOM executives, as well as another $850 to the Shekarchi-created "Rhode Island Good Government PAC."

 

Aetna Bridge

Aetna Bridge executives have donated $25,541 to Rhode Island politicians.  The company is named individually and as part of a joint venture.

Governor Dan McKee has received $5,200 from top executives at Aetna, but that pales compared to the $7,000 Helena Foulkes received. Foulkes lost to McKee in the 2022 Democratic primary and is running again in 2026.

Shekarchi also collected from Aetna executives — $1,600.

Former Governor Raimondo received another $1,500.

 

Barletta Heavy Division

In October 2020, GoLocal uncovered the dumping of illegal material in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence — and unveiled thousands of dollars in campaign donations from Barletta to Rhode Island political accounts:

More questions are emerging about the timing of Vincent Barletta’s Massachusetts company winning three of Rhode Island’s biggest construction contracts from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. 

In December 2017, Vincent Barletta attended a Rhode Island Democratic party fundraiser co-hosted by Governor Gina Raimondo and Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello. The event was organized by political consultant Jeff Britt.

Britt was recently on trial on felony and misdemeanor charges relating to a 2016 Mattiello campaign mailer.

READ MORE

In total, Barletta-linked officials donated $6,000 to the Rhode Island Democratic Party, and Shekarchi's Rhode Island Good Government PAC

In Massachusetts, for five years, Vincent Barletta was barred from making political contributions in Massachusetts for illegal campaign donations. He was forced to pay $185,000 in fines as a part of those actions levied by the Commonwealth in 2016.

Barletta Heavy Division is presently under felony indictment in Rhode Island for its role in the illegal dumping in Olneyville while it was the lead contractor for the 6/10 project.

 

Vanasse Hangen Brustlin

Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB) executives have pumped $33,625 into the campaigns of politicians across Rhode Island — the vast majority going to top players at the State House.

Raimondo scored nearly half of the dollars — $14,500.

And officials from the firm pumped $1,600 into the Shekarchi-created Rhode Island Good Government PAC.

 

Commonwealth Engineering

Executives and employees of the firm contributed $24,495 in campaign donations. Raimondo received nearly half from the firm — $11,370.00.

McKee has received $400 from the firm's executives and employees.

Shekarchi has received $150 and his PAC another $350.

 

Steere Engineering

Top players at the firm have donated a total of $7,250.

Raimondo was the largest recipient of Steere’s executive donations. She received $2,500.

And another $1,050 was sent to Shekarchi’s Rhode Island Good Government PAC.

 

The other firms sued on Friday that made donations but gave significantly smaller amounts to top Rhode Island politicians:

 

Collins Engineering

Collins Engineering's Seth Lemoine gave $250 to Shekarchi and another $150 to Shekarchi’s Island Good Government PAC. No other candidates or elected officials have received donations from anyone associated with the firm.

 

Transystems

Raimondo received $250 from the company’s Brian McGovern. No other candidates or elected officials have received donations from anyone associated with the firm.

 

Jacobs Engineering 

The firm's employees have given a total of $1,025.00.

Thomas Cabana of the firm gave $100 to Shearchi's PAC and Christopher J. Bonsignore donated $100 to Shekarchi's campaign account.

 

Michael Baker

Raimondo received $250 from J. Peter Maiorana of Michael Baker International. No other candidates or elected officials have received donations from anyone associated with the firm.

 

Prime AE

Executives of Prime AE donated only to Shekarchi's PAC - a total of $1,350.

 

Will Officials Return Donations?

Will top officials give political donations back to the companies that the state claims they helped cause the Washington Bridge failure? Here is what they told GoLocal.

Raimondo's state campaign account in Rhode Island is active and still has more than $580,000, but her campaign account email, which is registered with the state of Rhode Island, does not work and no one answers the phone number. No returned phone call.

McKee's campaign spokesman, Mike Trainor, said, "No comment."

Shekarchi told GoLocal of whether he would return his contributions, "Not at this time."

Foulkes wrote, "I have not received donations from anyone in these companies in 2024."

But Foulkes, as reported earlier in this story, received $7,000 from officers from Aetna Bridge, including a donation her campaign received after the Washington Bridge was shut down.

The Democratic Party, which received thousands, including $5,000 from Barletta-linked donations, did not reply to request for comment.

 

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story reported that Governor McKee received $4,700 from Aetna Bridge officers. He actually received $5,200.