Forbes Cracked Down on Criticism of Raimondo When She Became a National Player

Forbes Cracked Down on Criticism of Raimondo When She Became a National Player

For years, Edward “Ted” Siedle wrote as a columnist for Forbes Magazine.  The former United States Securities and Exchange (SEC) investigator was unrestrained by editors about what he wrote until 2020.

Then, everything changed.

Late in 2020, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo  — who Siedle had written about dozens of times previously — became a key candidate for cabinet position in the Biden Administration.

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Siedle is one of the top Wall Street whistleblowers, having been paid more than $75 million by federal agencies.

First, when Raimondo was rumored to be a candidate to serve as the Secretary of Treasury, Siedle wrote a column for Forbes entitled, “Biden Picking Gina Raimondo as Treasury Secretary Makes as Much Sense as Hiring Dracula to Guard National Blood Bank.”

Siedle’s editor, Janet Novack, without discussion, ordered the article to be deleted.

A ghosted version of the story can still be seen on the Forbes site. The full column was published by GoLocal. READ HERE

 

 

Just weeks later, it was clear Raimondo would be offered a top position in the Biden Administration.

Siedle says he was warned by Novack about writing about Raimondo just days before she was named United States Commerce Secretary in 2021 — without prior approval. 

"Happy New Year. I know how strongly you feel about Gina R," Novack wrote to Siedle on January 1, 2021, according to an email provided to GoLocal by Siedle. 

"Please don’t post anything about Gina & Commerce unless we’ve seen the draft and given you an okay," Novack continued.

Novack did not respond to requests for comment from GoLocal about her email to Siedle, and Forbes censored his writing on Raimondo.

"The point here was [with that instruction] was that they weren’t actually reviewing my work at that time," said Siedle, who said he had been uploading his articles to Forbes directly with no oversight or editing. "The first few years I contributed I did have an editor who I submitted work to and I loved it."

"The message was clear they didn’t want me to write about [Raimondo]," Siedle said.

Siedle continued to include, from time to time, data from the impact of Raimondo’s “pension reform” in Rhode Island in his columns.

Even that proved to be too much. The pressure built on Forbes.

"The relationship with Forbes was generally mutually beneficial over the years. As I recall, since 2013, Gina Raimondo's staff regularly complained to the magazine about my articles concerning her," said Siedle.

During his tenure writing for Forbes, Siedle was an unpaid contributor. 

 

Siedle Fired

"On March 3, 2023, I was informed by Jeffrey Marcus, Assistant Managing Editor, Contributors, 'We’re ending your contract to be an editorial contributor to Forbes effective immediately. Please consider this email written notification. Thanks for your contributions on retirement and for sharing your expertise on pensions with Forbes readers. Good luck with your future work,’” said Siedle.

"So I guess you could say I was fired from a job that I loved enough to do for free," Siedle said. 

Raimondo has become a darling of the national media with features in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and others.

Now, CBS' 60 Minutes is preparing a feature on Raimondo. Critics of her pension policies have asked to comment in the segment, but to date, there is no indication that those impacted by her policies have been included.

Siedle commented on Raimondo taping an upcoming "60 Minutes" segment at the Rhode Island State House, telling GoLocal, “She’s clearly a good student, but everything she’s done, from money management as a so-called VC, and her work at the pension fund — was horrible, and as far as I can see, she doesn’t have any other constituent than Wall Street."