PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — A former top state official is cleared of ethics violations resulting from a now-infamous trip to Philadelphia three years ago.
James Thorsen, who was Rhode Island’s director of administration, was accused of getting a free lunch from a company, Scout, that had an initial contract with the state for work on the Cranston Street Armory in Providence and was seeking a much larger $55 million deal to redevelop the long-vacant building.
Thorsen has fought the allegations brought by the Rhode Island Ethics Commission’s chief prosecutor.
He faced up to $52,000 in potential fines on three ethics charges brought against him.
Wednesday, the Ethics Commission voted on three separate ethics violations charges brought against Thorsen and ruled in his favor on all three.
While the headline from that business trip was the alleged racist and sexist comments made by the other state official on the trip, David Patten, they were both accused of taking a pricey lunch at a fancy restaurant that was opened just for them.
The meal was $131 per person.
Patten also allegedly took other items for free as they visited shops at a property Scout had developed.
Thorsen has maintained, and his lawyer repeated to the Ethics Commission Wednesday, that he did nothing wrong during the March 2023 episode.
After the trip, the Scout leaders sent an email to Gov. Dan McKee’s office, accusing Patten of making sexist and racist remarks, demanding lunch at the closed restaurant that Patten and Thorsen stuck them with the bill for, and implied Thorsen didn’t do enough to stop Patten.
Thorsen claims Patten told him on the way to Philadelphia that the lunch was “on him” and believed Patten had arranged for the payment of the lunch.
But the Ethics Commission prosecutor argues Thorsen never saw a bill or asked for one until he realized days later there was a problem and that Thorsen knew it would have been an ethics violation if Patten, a subordinate, had paid for him.
Thorsen’s lawyer Wednesday argued to the Ethics Commission, before the members deliberated behind closed doors, that there was no deliberate act by Thorsen to take a free gift.
Thorsen testified in his defense at a hearing in March.
He was questioned then by Ethics Commission Executive Director and Chief Prosecutor Jason Gramitt.
Gramitt asked, “Were you aware that David Patten was behaving strangely during the tour and not representing the state in an appropriate way?”
“That was my impression,” Thorsen responded.
Thorsen testified that Patten called one of the host’s dog fat, that he was interrupting, and that he pressed one person on their ethnicity.
“I did my best to deflect and de-escalate. But it was embarrassing,” Thorsen during his testimony in March.
Thorsen claims he was unaware Patten allegedly took free items from vendors along their tour, including vegan cheese and sneakers.
He claims Patten lied to him, saying he bought the cheese to support the local economy and that a sneaker box he had was empty.
“Did you apologize for any of his behavior that day?” Gramitt asked.
“No,” said Thorsen at the March hearing.
Scout executives claimed Patten messaged them the night before the trip demanding Diet Cokes for Thorsen, the best croissants in the city, and lunch at the closed restaurant, while saying Scout had three hours to try to win the $55 million state contract.
Thorsen testified that while he was on the trip to Philadelphia, he was learning of complaints from coworkers about Patten’s behavior at a gathering the night before at a Providence restaurant.
One coworker messaged Thorsen that Patten may have been having a manic episode.
Patten ultimately resigned as the head of the state properties division in 2023, blaming his behavior on a medical episode.
He agreed in 2024 to pay a $5,000 Ethics Commission fine.
Thorsen chose to fight the ethics allegations focused on the lunch.
Gramitt, when questioning Thorsen in March, tried to show he only offered to pay for the lunch after learning of Scout’s complaint.
“Is it your normal practice at a restaurant to get up and leave before the bill is brought to the table?” he asked Thorsen.
“No,” Thorsen said.
Thorsen’s lawyer, Kevin Bristow later asked, “Did you expect them to do anything out of the ordinary for you?”
“No,” Thorsen replied during his testimony in March.
Thorsen claims he didn’t know until days later that Patten had not paid the lunch bill.
Thorsen left his state job a month after the trip, though his departure had already been in the works.
He claims this episode has since ruined his career.