Twin River’s RI President Claims Smiley Threatened Him, Raimondo's Chief-of Staff Fires Back

Twin River’s RI President Claims Smiley Threatened Him, Raimondo's Chief-of Staff Fires Back

The near-endless war of political words tied to the highly charged lottery contract extension took a very unusual turn on Wednesday as a gambling company executive and lobbyist claims he was threatened by Governor Gina Raimondo's Chief-of-Staff Brett Smiley.

In a letter to the Chairman of Senate Finance Committee William Conley, Twin River’s Rhode Island President --  and lobbyist -- Mark Crisafulli claimed details about an incident tied to a phone call in June, but never disclosed until this week.

Specifically, Crisafulli claimed that Smiley threatened him during a phone call about the lottery contract.

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“As I am sure you recall, the evening [Tuesday night's Senate hearing] ended with an inquiry from Senator [Lou] DiPalma about the contents of a letter authored by our CEO and President, George Papanier, which was released publicly by the Office of the Governor after we had already reached a settlement on our Regulatory Agreement with the State, which I further detail below," according to Crisafulli's letter.

“The letter referenced a threat we received from a member of the Governor's staff, and after we received the threat and we publicly opposed the IGT legislation, the tenor of discussions with the State changed dramatically. The letter did not name the individual, nor did I at the hearing, despite the specific and repeated requests from Senator DiPalma. Senator Ciccone then stated at the hearing he would pursue a formal investigation,” wrote Crisafulli.

“Mr. Smiley's message was crystal clear: If Twin River opposed the IGT legislation which was being introduced that day, we would suffer regulatory consequences with the State. It is our view that there should never be any correlation or connection between our regulatory relationship with the State and our right to oppose legislation which harms us. I relayed this message to my leadership and we decided to proceed with our opposition to the no-bid, 20-year deal and we issued a statement opposing the legislation. I received an angry call from Mr. Smiley expressing disappointment that we openly opposed the deal. In total Mr. Smiley called me three times on the afternoon of June 27th,” stated Crisafulli in his letter recounting the incident.

The disclosure of the private phone call by seasoned gambling executive is highly unusual and sparked a strong rebut from Smiley.

Smiley Rubuke 

“I spoke with Mr. Crisafulli several times over many weeks and never once made a threat. That is not how I conduct myself. The day the legislation was introduced, I gave him a courtesy call to let him know that the General Assembly was moving forward, but that the proposal did not include Twin River getting VLTs. He was not happy with that news and it was a tense call. I also told him the State’s broader relationship with Twin River is important and I hope we’ll find other ways to help them grow their business. It’s unfortunate that they would make this accusation months later at the conclusion of the public hearings,” said Smiley in a statement.

In a State House known for tough politics, the allegation is unusual and the disclosure of a private conversation has sent shockwaves through the building.

The full letter can be read below: