Key Figure in Mattiello Consultant Britt’s Corruption Trial — Company Paid Thousands By Speaker

Key Figure in Mattiello Consultant Britt’s Corruption Trial — Company Paid Thousands By Speaker

Long-time political operative Ed Cotugno and his wife Teresa Graham are two central figures in the State of Rhode Island’s case against Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello’s former campaign consultant Jeff Britt —the trial is now expected to begin in September.

Now, just weeks before the Britt trial, Cotugno is back working for Mattiello's campaign team. Cotugno and Graham are on the witness list of Britt which was filed with the court on March 13, 2020.

According to campaign finance documents filed by the Mattiello campaign on Friday, Cotugno’s company Winning Ways was paid $6,000 on June 29. Cotugno worked with Mattiello in the 2016 reelection campaign. Another payment of $2,000 was made by the Mattiello campaign to Winning Ways in February of 2020.

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Britt and Mattiello have split and the attorney for Britt says his client is being used as the fall guy for the incidents that took place in the 2016 election. Mattiello defeated Republican Steve Frias by just 85 votes

GoLocal reached out to Mattiello’s campaign about the most recent payments to Cotugno’s firm, but they did not respond to request for comments regarding the payment, or the nature of the work being conducted this election cycle.

Over the years, Cotugno also worked for Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, Ed DiPrete and his firm is also working for Senate President Dominick Ruggerio’s campaign. Edward Cotugno's son, Michael Cotugno, has worked at the State House for Mattiello in legislative services.

Winning Way's website states, "Winning Ways is a full-service election firm that has been winning elections for more than a decade. If you are thinking about running for office, start with Winning Ways. Our candidates win."

 

The Indictment and the Players

In October of 2019, Britt was indicted by a statewide grand jury on two charges —  felony money laundering and a misdemeanor charge of making a prohibited campaign contribution.

The felony money laundering charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years. These charges are tied to a mailer sent in the coordination of the Mattiello campaign by a third party funded by Britt.

At the time of the indictment, Patti Doyle, spokesperson for the Mattiello Campaign, issued the following statement:

"These proceedings do not involve the Speaker. The Board of Elections resolved this issue for the campaign approximately one year ago." 

Now, nearly four years later from the events central to the indictment, both Edward Cotugno and his wife Graham are key players.

According to court documents filed by Britt’s campaign, Edward Cotugno and Graham are two of the witnesses that Britt’s defense team plans to call as witnesses.

In March filings the Britt team outlined 17 potential witnesses and wrote about Edward Cotugno and his wife:

Graham is expected to testify about her communications with Jeffrey Britt and with her husband Edward Cotugno about making a contribution to the Shawna Lawton campaign, and about the statements she made concerning that transaction.

Edward Cotugno is expected to testify about the services he provided to the Mattiello campaign, the payments he received for his services, his interactions and observations about the workings of the Mattiello campaign, and his communications with Jeffrey Britt, with other Mattiello campaign staffers, and with his wife, [sic] Theresa Graham, about making a contribution to the Shawna Lawton campaign and about the Shawna Lawton mailer.

The state's case alleges that Britt asked Graham and another man, Vic Pichette to make donations to Shawna Lawton -- who had lost to Frias in the September primary -- to pay for a mailing in support of Mattiello for the general election showdown against Frias.  

 

According to Attorney General:

As alleged in the Indictment, in 2016, the Republican primary for House seat occupied by Speaker Mattiello involved two candidates – Steven Frias and Shawna Lawton. Steven Frias defeated Shawna Lawton and was subsequently defeated by Speaker Mattiello in the General Election. After the Republican primary, in October of 2016, Mr. Britt met twice with Shawna Lawton to discuss the possibility that she support Speaker Mattiello’s campaign in the general election. Specifically, as alleged in the Indictment, Mr. Britt discussed with Ms. Lawton distributing a mailer endorsing Speaker Mattiello as well as funding for the mailer.

Subsequently, as alleged in the Indictment, Mr. Britt approached a person described in the Indictment as Donor 1 and requested that Donor 1 contribute $1,000 to Ms. Lawton’s campaign. Britt delivered $1,000 in cash to Donor 1 for this purpose. As alleged in the Indictment, Donor 1 deposited $1000 in cash into his personal checking account and shortly thereafter wrote a $1000 check from that account to the campaign of Ms. Lawton. 

Ms. Lawton deposited Donor 1’s $1000 check into her campaign account, along with another $1000 check delivered to her by Mr. Britt. Ms. Lawton then provided Mr. Britt with a check drawn on her campaign account for $2150, which was used to pay for the mailer. 

Ms. Lawton subsequently reported the two $1,000 contributions to the Rhode Island Board of Elections, including listing the source of one of the contributions as Donor 1.

 

Britt's team claims he is being used at the "Fall Guy"

After Neronha announced the indictment, Britt's attorney -- former U.S. Attorney -- Robert Corrente issued his own statement saying that Britt was being used as a fall guy.

"Mr. Britt is disappointed in today's indictment, but, at the same time, he is anxious to clear his name at public trial. We think it will become apparent that these charges should not have been brought -- and certainly not against Mr. Britt. Obviously, in the sometimes sordid history of Rhode Island politics, participating with others in raising $2100 for a campaign mailer, three years ago, is a pretty underwhelming offense. That's probably why the Board of Elections closed its investigation into the matter in April 2018, with just a warning to the Mattiello campaign. It certainly does not justify the State's overcharging this petty episode as money laundering when -- at most -- it might be a misdemeanor under Rhode Island law," said Corrente in October of 2029

"Worse, today's indictment unfairly singles out Mr. Britt, a contractor to the Mattiello campaign. We believe that the evidence at trial will leave Rhode Islanders scratching their heads about who did and who did not get charged, and will show that Mr. Britt was used by the Mattiello campaign as a fall guy. We are confident that the jury will see the set-up for what it is, once they hear the testimony from everyone involved," Corrente added.