PROVIDENCE — After hearing Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse lament the public's inability to unmask "dark money'' spending during the confirmation hearings this week for President Donald Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, state Republican Chairman Brandon Bell fired off a news release titled: "Stop the hypocrisy."

Bell focused his comments on the tens of thousands of campaign dollars that Whitehouse and Gov. Gina Raimondo, both Democrats, have received in recent years from lawyers at a Boston law firm that is under investigation.

Among the allegations: that the Thornton Law Firm effectively reimbursed its lawyers for their targeted political contributions, with matching bonuses, according to a review of law firm records by the [Boston Globe's] Spotlight Team and the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based nonprofit that tracks campaign finance data.

From 2010 through 2014, partners David C. Strouss and Garrett J. Bradley "along with founding partner Michael Thornton and his wife donated nearly $1.6 million to Democratic party fundraising committees and a parade of politicians from [former] Senate minority leader Harry Reid of Nevada ... to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

"Over the same span, the lawyers received $1.4 million listed as “bonuses” in Thornton Law Firm records; more than 280 of the contributions precisely matched bonuses that were paid within 10 days,'' according to an October 2016 summary posted on the Center for Responsive Politics OpenSecrets.org website.

The law firm, through a spokesman, told The Journal on Thursday: "The Thornton Law Firm has complied with all applicable rules and regulations. The firm's donation program was vetted by an outside law firm and overseen by an outside accountant, and partners made contributions using their own money."

A long list of recipients — including then-presidential nominee Hillary Clinton — announced plans to turn the money they received from the firm's lawyers over to the U.S. Treasury Department amid questions about the legality of reimbursing people for their political donations as a potential way to end-run contribution limits and prohibitions in states — such as Rhode Island — on corporate and partnership donations.

Bell's statement: "According to the Boston Globe, the Thornton Law Firm is under investigation by federal and Massachusetts state officials for illegal campaign donations involving a straw donor scam.'' By his count, Raimondo has received nearly $33,000 in donations from people at the Thornton Law Firm, and Whitehouse more than $70,000.

"This week Governor Gina Raimondo called for various government reforms through an op-ed while U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse pontificated about dark money... Maybe the public would take their op-eds and speeches about reforming government more seriously if they actually returned the tainted donations they received from a law firm under investigation for a straw donor scam."

In Raimondo's case the donations spanned a period from October 2010 through February 2014. Whitehouse's donations from lawyers at the firm ran from 2006 to 2011.

Neither the Whitehouse nor Raimondo campaigns intend to return the donations. Raimondo spokeswoman Kate Ramstad said her campaign "will reassess whether further action is needed pending the conclusion of the legal process.''

Similarly, Whitehouse spokeswoman Meaghan McCabe said: "Waiting until an investigation has run its course is the American way. The Republican Party in Rhode Island would be better served by focusing on protecting the Affordable Care Act from President Trump and standing up for seniors and for children, rather than on theatrics about ongoing investigations.''