Former Providence Mayor Taveras Hired by Amore to Handle DOJ Probe Into RI Elections

Former Providence Mayor Taveras Hired by Amore to Handle DOJ Probe Into RI Elections

GoLocal has learned that Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore has hired former Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and his law firm, Adler Pollock and Sheehan, to serve as legal counsel. Taveras will respond to the probe by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Taveras served as Mayor of Providence from 2010 to 2014. He ran for Governor in 2014, but lost to Gina Raimondo in the Democratic primary.

Amore’s office would not release a copy of the contract between his office and Taveras’ firm — they said it needed to be reviewed before being released.

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

Taveras also did legal work for Amore's predecessor, Nellie Gorbea.

On Wednesday, GoLocal unveiled that the Trump administration had sent an email to Amore dated July 10 and had requested a meeting via phone on “ineligible voters” and voter "fraud."

The email from the Justice Department was provided to GoLocal.

The government's email states in part wrote, “We would like to request a call with you, or the relevant election official in your office, to discuss a potential information-sharing agreement that would provide the U.S. Department of Justice with information on, among other things, individuals who have registered to vote or have voted in your state despite being ineligible to vote, who may have committed other forms of election fraud, who may have provided false information to state authorities on voter registration or other election forms, or who may otherwise have engaged in unlawful conduct relevant to the election process.”

“With your cooperation, we plan to use this information to enforce Federal election laws and protect the integrity of Federal elections,” states the email signed by Scott Laragy, Principal Deputy Director, Executive Office for United States Attorneys and Paul Hayden, Senior Counsel, Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Amore said that neither a call nor a meeting has been scheduled with the Justice Department to date.

 

Amore on the Probe

“We received one inquiry from DOJ requesting a meeting to discuss our process around voter list maintenance, and systems in place to remove voters from our list,” said Amore.

“The letter also requests information about the handling of instances of illegal ( and that term refers to an act not a person) voter incidents ( which is a BOE function). We have not been asked for data or for access to voting equipment ( also BOE).

“There is nothing to comply with at this point, it’s just a request for a meeting. At this point we have not agreed to a meeting. This is a highly unusual request as the States are Constitutionally empowered to manage all aspects of elections that are not otherwise mandated by federal law. It appears this is a continued attempt to promote the false claim that the 2020 elections was stolen and to undermine confidence in our elections- pretty consistent playbook from the Trump people,” added Amore.

 

Second Investigation

Further, the email from the Department of Justice delineates that this investigation is separate from another initiative that is ongoing between the Justice Department and Rhode Island.

“It is our understanding that some of our colleagues from the Civil Rights Division may have reached out to your office recently about collecting voting information as part of the Department's efforts to implement President Trump's Executive Order (EO) 14248, Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” states the Justice Department email.

Faith Chybowski, spokesperson for Amore that the Secretary of State has not been notified of the second investigation by the Justice Department, said in an email to Golocal, “Also, the US DOJ has not requested our voter file. This is the only request we have received from the US DOJ.”