PROVIDENCE — Records show that IGT donated $150,000 to the Democratic Governors Association in the last six months, while Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo was leading the group as chairwoman and former IGT Chairman Donald Sweitzer was serving as treasurer.



The contributions came while the Raimondo administration was negotiating a proposed 20-year, no-bid Lottery contract extension with IGT. Twin River, which has led opposition to the proposed contract extension, donated $100,000 to the Democratic Governors Association [DGA] on Feb. 28.

Put another way: a quarter-million of the "record breaking" $19 million the DGA raised on Raimondo's watch came from Rhode Island's warring gambling titans.

"Wow,'' said state Republican Party Chairwoman Sue Cienki in response to The Journal report on the contributions.

"Talk about appearance of impropriety! $150,000 donation from IGT to DGA...Why would Governor Raimondo even consider accepting this donation in light of pending ethics complaint addressing this relationship?" said Cienki, referring to a complaint the GOP has lodged against Raimondo, alleging she violated the state Code of Ethics when she entered into a tentative agreement to extend IGT’s contract to run the state’s video and traditional Lottery systems through 2043 without “an open and public competitive bid process.”

That complaint centers on her close ties to DGA treasurer Sweitzer, who has doubled this year as an IGT lobbyist at the State House.

But DGA spokesman David Turner denied that Raimondo had any role in securing the three donations totaling $150,000 between March 22 and May 10 from IGT Global Solutions and International Game Technology.

Responding to a Journal inquiry, he said: "They are recurring donors for more than two decades with a long history of giving to the DGA. This was handled at the staff level, as it is every year, and there was no need for the governor or Sweitzer to do so as the DGA and IGT have had [a] pre-existing relationship."

A fundraising report filed Wednesday night by the DGA also reflects $75,000 in contributions to the Raimondo led DGA from Deloitte Touche on March 12 and $10,000 from Deloitte Federal PAC on June 30.

On March 15, Raimondo announced that she had decided to keep the arm of the company known as Deloitte Consulting that designed the state’s trouble-plagued, $617-million public-assistance computer system known as UHIP — under terms in which the company would pay the state $50 million in cash which the state was still chasing when lawmakers inked the new state budget in June.

Having said earlier she could not imagine renewing the Deloitte contract, Raimondo that day said: “This is a tough decision.”

"I’ve been very critical of Deloitte all along, as you know,” she told news reporters. “I came to this based on not what was easy or politically expedient or what felt good. Sometimes suing someone feels good [but] then you’re tied up in expensive litigation for years.”

It remains unclear who solicited the Deloitte contributions. Earlier this year, in an interview with The Journal she acknowledged some discomfort at learning that Deloitte has been a major DGA contributor: $81,050 last year. "To be clear, I had nothing to do with that. I have not, nor will I ask Deloitte for money on behalf of myself or any political organization,'' she said.

Since January 1, the DGA has also raised $100,000 from another donor with a Rhode Island connection: the Edison Electric Institute, which is the trade association for National Grid and other electric companies.

The Democratic Governors Association earlier this week issued a press release touting a record-breaking fundraising haul since January 1 of $19 million. Among the highlights cited in the DGA statement:



"After a historic 2018 cycle, the DGA’s expanding donor base fueled the new all-time high. The number of unique individual donors grew 22 percent and number of individual contributions grew by 47 percent compared to the same period in 2015. ... In addition, the DGA had a more than 28 percent growth in first time online donors, giving the organization an immediate return on its increased investment in its digital program."



“The DGA’s record-breaking fundraising haul will help us build the infrastructure to win competitive gubernatorial races in 2019 and 2020,” said DGA Executive Director Noam Lee.



Raimondo has not yet responded directly to inquiries on her role in the record-breaking six months, following her election as chairwoman of the association last December.



The day she was elected by her fellow governors, she told The Journal: "It is primarily a fundraising job."



It remains unclear where and when Raimondo conducted her fundraising activities for the DGA, aside from four announced out-of-state trips.



Travel advisories issued by her State House office staff make broad mention of DGA meetings or "fundraising'' during her out-of-state ventures, without further details.



On Feb. 1, for example, her office reported she was headed to the National Governors Association’s 2019 Winter Meeting in Washington, and while there would "attend political and fundraising events."



On April 2, Raimondo spokesman Josh Block advised the media: "Governor Raimondo is traveling to Florida this afternoon on DGA business and will return to Rhode Island tomorrow evening."



On April 30, he advised: "Governor Raimondo is travelling to San Francisco today on DGA business and will return to Rhode Island tomorrow night."



On May 9: "Governor Raimondo is traveling to New York City today to receive the National Mother’s Day Committee’s 'Outstanding Mother of the Year' award. She will remain in New York for the DGA Spring Policy Conference and will return to Rhode Island tomorrow afternoon."



On July 19: "Governor Raimondo is traveling to Nantucket tomorrow to attend a DGA retreat and will return to Rhode Island Sunday afternoon."



On July 25: "Governor Raimondo is traveling to New York City today to attend a roundtable discussion with New York tech executives hosted by Tech:NYC. She also has economic development meetings and DGA meetings while in New York. The Governor will return to Rhode Island tomorrow afternoon."





