Block Admits to Failing to Disclose Volunteer Position on Ethics Filing

Block Admits to Failing to Disclose Volunteer Position on Ethics Filing

After calling out dozens of state legislators for failing to disclose both paid and volunteer positions along with family members on their annual filings with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission, former Moderate Party Chairman-turned-Republican Ken Block acknowledged he omitted his party chair position from his 2013 filing. 

"Yes, I should have put it down, just as [Democratic Party] Chairman McNamara should have, too," said Block when asked on Thursday about the oversight.

Upon further inspection, Block did not report holding the position of President of advocacy group RI Taxpayers during that time either. 

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Pointing Out Shortcomings

On May 13, Block posted the following on Facebook, after he picked apart omissions in legislators' filings one-by-one on Twitter. 

"I want to bring you all up to speed on a research project I did on ethics filings by RI legislators. Largely as a result of my findings, 26 legislators are re-filing their disclosure forms. All of this happened in real time on Twitter."

Representative Doreen Costa was one legislator called out by Block who took issue with the revelation on Thursday. 

"We're all taking the heat for honest mistakes, and for Mr. Block to call everyone out, when he failed to disclose something himself?  That's an ethics "fail," said Costa, who is a Republican along with Block. "It's called karma."

Block: "I Defended Legislators"

Block pointed to his testimony during the recent House finance hearing on the line-item veto, when a woman testifying after him changed topics and demanded new Finance Chair Rep. Abney step down due to omitting information about his wife's nonprofit ties on his ethics forms. 

"As I said in House finance, I felt somewhat responsible for what happened with [Rep. Abney] that day," said Block. "I feel a great many of these omissions weren't done willfully."

See Block's Testimony HERE - Testimony at 76:30 Mark

"When so many mistakes are being made -- you have to call into question how effective the filing is, and oversight by the commission," said Block. "Omissions of income, whether they're intentional of not intentional, is the big question."

Former Rhode Island Republican Party Chair Mark Smiley said he felt Block could have addressed the ethics transgressions differently. 

"He who lives in a glass house, should not throw stones.  [Block's] given Reps and Senators who already have enough on their plate more to deal with, with their constituency," said Smiley. "A warning shot would have accomplished the same thing without the public embarrassment."