Bell files complaint over Mattiello mailer

PROVIDENCE – R.I. Republican Party Chairman Brandon Bell filed a formal complaint Oct. 31 with the R.I. Board of Elections over a mailer endorsing Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, WPRI-TV CBS 12 reported.

The complaint alleges Shawna Lawton, who endorsed Mattiello after failing to win the Republican nomination in his district, did not properly disclose the mailer and funded it as an “independent expenditure” to benefit Mattiello.

It also alleges Lawton and Mattiello engaged in “illegal coordination and consultation” because Jeff Britt, a political adviser to Mattiello, met with Lawton before the mailer went out, after which she privately told others she’d been “promised” help on anti-vaccine issues in exchange for her support.

Mattiello has repeatedly denied the allegations.

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“I have never spoken to her or anyone about her endorsement or about the vaccine issue,” he said Oct. 31 on WPRO. •

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