PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- House Speaker Gordon D. Fox's once-and-future opponent, Mark Binder, says newly released documents are proof Fox had a larger role in pitching the state's failed $75-million investment in 38 Studios than previously disclosed.
The House voted for the loan-guarantee program in May 2010, the Senate a month later. The EDC earmarked $75 million of the potential $125 million in state-backed loans to retired Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video-game company in July 2010.
Referring to notes of conversations that Fox, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and others had with Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's in September 2010, Binder said:
"During my campaign against Gordon Fox, over the course of the several debates and the comments he made to the media, he maintained that he had no involvement in the decision-making process around 38 Studios. He claimed that the decision and go-ahead was completely a product of the EDC.
"These documents clearly show that he lied during the campaign about his involvement. Gordon Fox was on the phone and deeply involved in the nuts and bolts negotiations with Moodys in making 38 Studios happen. He knew about it, he okayed it, he made sure it happened. It's no wonder that there hasn't been any deep investigation of the process.''
Related: Fox, Paiva Weed lobbied for good rating on 38 Studios bonds