PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Weeks after Texas billionaire John Arnold was unmasked by the Wall Street Journal as one of its six-figure donors, the advocacy group EngageRI has reaffirmed its non-disclosure policy.
Arnold, a former hedge-fund manager and natural-gas trader at Enron, and his wife, Laura, donated between $100,000 and $500,000, a significant chunk of the $740,000 EngageRI spent to promote the 2011 pension overhaul.
"We respect the right that any donor to a 501(c)(4) entity has to remain anonymous, supporting a mission without being subject to the 'political fray,' " EngageRI chair John Galvin said Monday.
"We believe that the harassment and boycotts inflicted upon some EngageRI supporters like Collette Vacations, Crossroads, Family Services and a number of local chambers of commerce last year in an effort to intimidate them from taking a position on pension reform both crossed the line of fairness and is an understandable reason why some supporters may want to remain private," Galvin said.