Media Coverage-Or Covering-of Gina Raimondo?

There is no question-even among detractors-that US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is regarded as a national rising star in American politics. That is just a plain fact.

But we should not be remissed if we think Secretary Raimondo is well-beloved and highly regarded whether in Rhode Island or in the eyes of the American public at large. There is nothing further from the truth. Even the White House knew that.

At least, that is not what the national media and press has indicated. If they acknowledge that fact privately, they at least are not indicating it publicly.

More than 2 years ago today, I came across the disturbing events that were finally coming to light at Eleanor Slater Hospital after Gina Raimondo prepared to end her tenure as Rhode Island Governor for Washington DC and the US Commerce Department. After the drip, drip, drip of what happened in the years to that point at this state-run hospital (a last resort for many Rhode Islanders), I started looking into it more.

In fact, it was clear there was more to the record of Gina Raimondo in Rhode Island and Washington DC than meets the eye as I came across more information and more sources. Beyond my own expectations in fact.

And not only was it an issue provoking my interest and action. It was a matter that concerned a wide variety of local & national stakeholders alike to the general conduct & behavior of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in her entire tenure in public office. A track record that starts out in the private sector, to her entrance to Smith Hill state politics in Rhode Island, and now as a member of the Biden Cabinet in Washington DC.

2 years ago now, I made the decision in my own individual capacity-which surely other leaders and experts on the ground in Rhode Island have done before-to alert the national press to keep an eye on these events and to raise scrutiny of them as Raimondo gained more influence on Capitol Hill.

As I reflect now, my mind has changed quite a bit. But at that point, there was a faith in the practices of the media that made me reserve any judgments on the matter while continuing on an individual front-and more importantly on a collaborative front. I continued having that faith despite skeptics I had discussed this with.

The work of myself-and much more importantly, the advocacy and voices of people and organizations on the ground in Rhode Island and on these issues even nationally for years-culminated in a quest to examine what happened in Rhode Island state government and to further scrutinize how Raimondo conducts herself on a federal level in a major Cabinet department she now manages-and as her name is thrown around for higher offices.

It includes the ongoing efforts to bring a congressional oversight commission modeled off of the investigations into the Boston FBI’s connections with Whitey Bulger and other mob informants that took place back in 2002 with petitions active on MoveOn and Change.org right this moment; along with a compiling of granular file documentation and a growing list of corroborating & reliable sources on these many matters.

So what gives? One of the most powerful politicians in the country speculated as a potential Treasury Secretary, VP contender, and presidential hopeful numerous times, and a reality check of her track record of state government dysfunction, an abysmal economic track record, multiple public relations embarrassments and scandals, and major allegations of inappropriate, unethical, and criminal conduct in office?

Why is it that one side is covered, but the other side isn’t? I have come to one hard truth that defines a major challenge in the way of the truth. Major national media institutions in the national sphere are protecting Gina Raimondo.

It is an operation in the making for years, with puff piece editorials, columns, & profiles that naturally incorporate her allies’-and Raimondo’s own talking points-while almost totally leaving out the reality of her day-to-day operations in state & federal government. Coincidence?

This is not to condemn the national media as a whole-which has many credible, hardworking, and talented journalists and reporters; some of whom are being hamstrung for that matter by the outlets.

It is to say Raimondo’s political and media allies have managed to infiltrate the system in a way that her proto-campaign messages can circulate across the country without rebuttal.

Let’s begin with the obvious or well-known. For years, the PR machine has churned out editorials, columns, and profiles of the US Commerce Secretary from her time as RI General Treasurer, to becoming Rhode Island’s first woman governor, and to now working in the Biden-Harris Administration.

There’s a whole list of columnists who have done Raimondo’s dirty work for her-a entire list has been compiled of the laudatory pieces and the authors who wrote them over the years. Many of them happen to be in the largest media outlets-mainly embedded in the big newspapers-and they are mainly the same authors. Several of these authors are high up in the media food chain in being chief or associate editors, operators in the copy desks or newsrooms, or owning the outlets outright. Some are behind the scenes in TV stations who schedule the interviews-especially outlets with her kind of business-oriented ideology like CNBC or Bloomberg.

Let’s talk about Bloomberg more-the namesake outlet of New York elite businessman Mike Bloomberg. Mike is a big fan of Gina. Gina has considered him a role model. His daughter contributed multiple times to Raimondo in her early tenure as our State Treasurer. He endorsed her campaigns for Governor. And she endorsed him when he ran for President in 2020. Indeed, he wrote a piece on his website saying she represents “progress built on capitalism” (whether that has to do with her 2011 pension policies might be a great question for him).

Certainly, Raimondo has other powerful connections like early supporter-and now US Ambassador-Rahm Emanuel, and former US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. But Bloomberg catches my eye-and those of many on the ground here.

Beyond that history mentioned above, Bloomberg has people in the media world-he even named his own news site after him. For one, his big financial advisor on his personal philanthropic projects-Steve Rattner-contributes regularly in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and has written about Raimondo himself. Does anyone not believe these people have significant sway in the newspapers and can deliver the contacts for Raimondo’s press team? Of course they don’t. Does anyone doubt Raimondo or her staff does not know someone in the Wall Street Journal or CNBC? Of course they don’t.

And because they know someone, they can freely implant all the good talk Raimondo gives about her time in Rhode Island and everything she does now-while miraculously leaving out all the bad stuff. GoLocalProv called it right back in 2016 when they summarized national commentaries back then: “The…article…barely spoke to a detractor and lauded Rhode Island’s first female Governor with compliments for her smarts and big time connections.” This is a pattern for a reason. It is not just a coincidence or mere luck.

There is another purpose of the PR machine coming to light-and in sync with efforts on the ground here to raise these issues nationally. That is reporters, journalists, and commentators with the courage to report the facts and tell the truth are not being allowed to do so. Corporate media management is pressuring Raimondo dissent to be clamped down to protect her national ambitions and agenda.

This has happened-at least the instances we know in the public eye. In 2023, Forbes magazine fired SEC whistleblower Ted Siedle for writing continued pieces on the Rhode Island pension reform laws, and scrutinizing them on the grounds that are being raised by state employees and retirees. For putting Raimondo under the microscope, he was punished swiftly as the released emails show. It was indicated in the years leading up to that moment, Raimondo’s people were pressuring Forbes to quell Siedle’s voice-until they succeeded.

On another front, she also hired journalists to do her PR work-perhaps as a way to get them off her back. One of them did remarkable reporting regarding DCYF and UHIP as a Providence Journal State House reporter: Jennifer Bogdan Jones. Similar instances are common in Rhode Island-and indeed elsewhere sadly-as a result of low pay.

Finally, the ongoing outreach to 60 Minutes by many Rhode Islanders seeking to have their voices finally heard. Despite the reporting and indication of outreach by many Rhode Islanders and national figures, as of now, no one has responded to the calls for an interview or putting in another form of comment. More to come either way.

So what does this all show? For one, Raimondo has many connections as some of the columnists themselves have admitted. Raimondo has a very formidable PR operation, and the links are pretty clear already.

But more importantly, as I am all too familiar with from my own perspective and from the many real leaders, advocates, and voices locally and nationally who I know, Gina Raimondo is seeking to bury her past in hopes of preserving her national aspirations. And doing so to prevent the raising of scrutiny of her conduct in public office and the legal ramifications that would come her way if and when the reality check takes place.

We must have an independent government watchdog in the national & local media & press. Without it, “democracy will indeed die in darkness.”

And for those interested, support the retirees in the next Pension Commission hearing on November 30 starting at 4:00 PM at the RI State House.