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FBI Raids Rhode Island House Speaker

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FBI investigators leave the office of Rhode island House Speaker Gordon Fox at the Statehouse in Providence, R.I., Friday, March 21, 2014. Rhode Island House Majority Leader Nick Mattiello says he has called an "informational caucus" for Friday evening for Democrats to talk about the future of the House. Mattiello tells The Associated Press that Friday's news that House Speaker Gordon Fox's statehouse office and home were raided by state and federal law enforcement is "unsettling." Mattiello says he wants to be the next speaker, and is aware that other House members, including Chris Blazejewski and Mike Marcello, are also interested in the top spot. Neither lawmaker returned messages. (AP)
FBI investigators leave the office of Rhode island House Speaker Gordon Fox at the Statehouse in Providence, R.I., Friday, March 21, 2014. Rhode Island House Majority Leader Nick Mattiello says he has called an "informational caucus" for Friday evening for Democrats to talk about the future of the House. Mattiello tells The Associated Press that Friday's news that House Speaker Gordon Fox's statehouse office and home were raided by state and federal law enforcement is "unsettling." Mattiello says he wants to be the next speaker, and is aware that other House members, including Chris Blazejewski and Mike Marcello, are also interested in the top spot. Neither lawmaker returned messages. (AP)

In 1904, the legendary muckraking journalist Lincoln Steffens wrote, "The political condition of Rhode Island is notorious, acknowledged and it is shameful... Rhode Island is a state for sale... and cheap."

It's a state where a governor was sent to jail, and so was the mayor of its capital city. Now, the speaker of the Rhode Island House has suffered a stunning fall from grace. On Friday, FBI and IRS agents raided the office and home of House Speaker Gordon Fox. Fox resigned his speakership the following day and says he will not seek re-election to the House.

But but so far, he's refused to address the substance of the investigation. Meanwhile, his colleagues are about to elect a new speaker, with news just in that House Majority Leader Nick Mattiello has the votes to be Fox's replacement.

Guest

Scott Mackay, political analyst with Rhode Island Public Radio.

More

The Boston Globe, R.I. Speaker’s Scandal Stuns, Fascinates State

  • "You would think that a state that has seen a governor go to jail and the mayor of its capital city incarcerated between stints as a popular radio host would be blasé about another politician in trouble."

Providence Journal: Gordon Fox Has Broken Barriers But Has Also Faced Scrutiny

  • "Gordon D. Fox, a lawyer, former nightclub owner and child of the Mount Hope section of Providence’s East Side, rose to arguably the most powerful position in Rhode Island government on Feb. 11, 2010, when he was voted the state’s 222nd speaker of the House after 17 years in the General Assembly."

This segment aired on March 25, 2014.

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