I write in response to Paul Jones’ personally insulting press release directed at me and printed in last week’s Valley Breeze. I’d prefer not to as I have spent most of 2022 otherwise ignoring his barrage of insulting commentary disguised as a political campaign but this time I feel I had no choice given the platform he received.
Following the election in November the RIGOP filed a campaign finance complaint against Jones based on numerous and obvious inconsistencies in his reporting. Although the issues were plain for weeks, RIGOP only filed it after the votes were cast so no one could accuse it of attempting to affect the election as that was never the point. Among the highlights were Jones’ failure to report over $8,000 worth of mailers and printing costs, the use of a professional PR firm, and a two page advertisement disguised as a “news” story in a statewide ad circular. There were smaller issues as well.
Following the complaint he amended his campaign reports no fewer than five times to address a number of inconsistencies and omissions. The most egregious was the appearance of a post election “accounts payable” for nearly $8,300 from a well known Democratic campaign consultant in East Greenwich that he alleges extended him credit from the outset of his campaign nearly a year ago. The invoice was conveniently postdated to fit the small window preceding the complaint but following the most recent report. If anyone can find a campaign consultant willing to extend thousands of dollars in credit to local candidates for office, let alone challengers still carrying thousands in debt from their last failed campaign, please let me know as they are as rare as unicorns.
At best Jones demonstrated incompetence. At worst the RIGOP’s complaint caught him trying to benefit from improper in kind contributions off the books that he was now forced to report and carry as even more campaign debt in the future. It will be interesting to see how, if ever, he pays off that debt or if after this blows over, some third party such as the socialist Working Families Party, which endorsed his candidacy, doesn’t quietly try to take care of it for him hoping no one will notice.
The Board of Elections has often stated their primary goal is to compel compliance with the law, with punishment of offenders being secondary. The RIGOP complaint against Jones may not have resulted in a fine but it did expose a series of errors in Jones’ campaign finance filings, including errors that may well in my opinion have been no mistake at all but rather an attempt to hide campaign donations. Jones may have escaped official punishment but his machinations are plain for all to see. Just go read his reports and ask whether his explanations make any sense. Perhaps the BOE just decided in light of his multiple failed campaigns for multiple offices over the last several election cycles coupled with his significant campaign debt, to extend an early Christmas gift and not pile on and make it worse.
Paul Jones tried to cheat with his campaign finance and got caught. He caught a break from BOE.
In my opinion, Paul Jones should be on his knees thanking God he escaped harsher penalty instead of blaming everyone else under the sun for his own mistakes.
Yeesh. I don’t think I’ve ever met a sore winner as bad as Brian Newberry.
There’s a lot to unpack amongst all the wild accusations and insinuations, so let me just focus on what he says is the most egregious: I was told by Richard Thornton, head of campaign finance, to assign the accounts payable label as seen. It seems Brian needs a refresher on campaign finance, so maybe he should give Richard a call. I also do not have the time, inclination, or obsession to go through all of Brian’s campaign finance records, but making amendments to different reports is common to say the least.
This has grown very sad. Brian was wrong. The RIGOP was wrong. They were proven wrong by actual evidence. Rather than just moving on and admitting they were wrong, we have another lame attempt to double down from someone whose apparent sole priority as a Representative is me. To make matters worse, it’s more wrong information which is easily disproven!
I hope as a late Christmas present we can all just move on from the 2022 election. It’s over. I hope Brian decides to actually focus on representing the district, instead of … whatever this whole weird situation has been.
It should be known that Paul supports this man who was also one of Jones’s biggest supporters. All the women that Paul pandered to as him being the pro choice savior should be appalled that Jones has a relationship w this man. And even worse, this organization, that was one of Paul Jones biggest advocates, supporters and donors knowingly knew he was a sexual predator for months!!!! “You are the company you keep”
Ppl might want to start with Newberry sponsoring illegal whiffle ball tournaments in a residential zoning area. Might be for a great cause, kids, but it is still a violation causing many issues for neighbors, in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. But alas, that seems ok.
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(6) comments
Paul Jones tried to cheat with his campaign finance and got caught. He caught a break from BOE.
In my opinion, Paul Jones should be on his knees thanking God he escaped harsher penalty instead of blaming everyone else under the sun for his own mistakes.
Paul Jones has shown his true colors again. Brian you are right on point. This is just another reason not to ever vote for Paul Jones.
Yeesh. I don’t think I’ve ever met a sore winner as bad as Brian Newberry.
There’s a lot to unpack amongst all the wild accusations and insinuations, so let me just focus on what he says is the most egregious: I was told by Richard Thornton, head of campaign finance, to assign the accounts payable label as seen. It seems Brian needs a refresher on campaign finance, so maybe he should give Richard a call. I also do not have the time, inclination, or obsession to go through all of Brian’s campaign finance records, but making amendments to different reports is common to say the least.
This has grown very sad. Brian was wrong. The RIGOP was wrong. They were proven wrong by actual evidence. Rather than just moving on and admitting they were wrong, we have another lame attempt to double down from someone whose apparent sole priority as a Representative is me. To make matters worse, it’s more wrong information which is easily disproven!
I hope as a late Christmas present we can all just move on from the 2022 election. It’s over. I hope Brian decides to actually focus on representing the district, instead of … whatever this whole weird situation has been.
Paul Jones
It should be known that Paul supports this man who was also one of Jones’s biggest supporters. All the women that Paul pandered to as him being the pro choice savior should be appalled that Jones has a relationship w this man. And even worse, this organization, that was one of Paul Jones biggest advocates, supporters and donors knowingly knew he was a sexual predator for months!!!! “You are the company you keep”
https://twitter.com/reclaimri/status/1607980326730534918?t=XK23_Y4NI7bkHVaY4JxjWg&s=19
A simple "sorry, I made mistakes" would have sufficed.
Ppl might want to start with Newberry sponsoring illegal whiffle ball tournaments in a residential zoning area. Might be for a great cause, kids, but it is still a violation causing many issues for neighbors, in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. But alas, that seems ok.
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Comments that will be deleted include:
- Those that include threatening, derogatory, obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist, sexist or sexually-oriented language.
This includes any name-calling/nicknames of people both on the local and national level.
- Those with accusations or allegations that can’t be proven, or that try to build a negative narrative about one person or entity
over time through a clearly coordinated campaign. If you believe the backstory really needs to be shared,
send us a letter to the editor or a story pitch with your name and contact information.
- Those with outright lies or falsehoods.
Please use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know if you believe a comment was allowed in error.What we at The Breeze would truly like to see are comments that add history and context to a story or that use criticism constructively.