New Providence NAACP president says AG investigation into past campaigns 'not a concern'
Providence NAACP President-elect Gerard Catala doesn't deny allegations that he violated campaign-finance law during previous runs for office, but says that's not a concern for him in his new position.
On Tuesday, while at a news conference on education issues outside the Providence Public School District offices, Catala broke his silence on the claims, which the attorney general's office has been investigating for months.
"They’re just allegations," Catala said. "But it’s not something I’m entertaining right now."
Asked whether he was concerned about the outcome of the investigation, having just been elected to his post after defeating longtime President Jim Vincent, Catala said "not at all."
"I’m just focused forward, fighting forward," he added. "I’m just worrying about the people of Providence and surrounding communities. That’s it. It’s not a concern of mine."
However, Catala would not deny the allegations against him. Instead, he called himself "a straight shooter," telling a reporter, "I’m really not going to sit here and do this with you because I really have a tremendous amount of disdain for the article that you put out on me."
The Providence Journal previously published two articles concerning the investigation. Catala was contacted for both, but did not provide the paper with comment until confronted on Tuesday.
Near the end of the exchange, Catala simply said: "Here’s the reality: I said I’m not going to speak out about it."
Read about the allegations here:Providence City Council candidate accused of campaign finance violations
What are the details of the allegations?
The allegations arose in July of this year, when Catala was running for City Council and the Board of Elections announced that its Campaign Finance Division uncovered violations during an audit
The audit summary contained a slew of findings, including that Catala was missing campaign finance reports and bank account statements, filed reports "falsely reporting no contributions or expenditures," and used personal funds on his campaign. The audit was unable to determine the source of a series of deposits and also unable to confirm that some debts were campaign related.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Gerard Catala, new head of Providence NAACP, responds to campaign allegations
