Republican Tom Foley is exploring a run for governor and he's already on the offensive against Governor Dannel Malloy.
When he announced on Tuesday that he was exploring a run for governor, Foley accused Malloy of improperly giving state business to friends who did him favors. He declined to give any examples.
But during an appearance on WFSB's "Face the State," host Dennis House asked Foley again for examples. Foley obliged, and prefaced his accusations by saying, "I'm not a news organization. I don't have a staff to look into these things and investigate them."
Here's what Foley said:
- Dan Esty's consulting firm gave money to Malloy before he was elected governor without performing any work for Esty. Upon his election, Malloy appointed Esty Commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
- Malloy's former campaign manager and senior advisor Roy Occhiogrosso left the administration earlier this year to work for the political consulting firm Global Strategy Group. That firm was recently awarded a contract for communications and PR for the state's Health Exchange.
- Andrew McDonald was a partner at the law firm Pullman & Comley before Malloy tapped him to be his chief legal counsel. "It is commonly believed among first selectmen that I know that if you don't use Pullman & Comley for your bond issue, it's much less likely that the governor is going to approve it," said Foley. He added that the mere perception that this is the case will improperly move business to that firm.
- Malloy's trips to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and China were partially funded by the UConn Foundation. Foley says the Foundation was pressured by the administration and reluctantly agreed to provide the funding.
"These are all things that have been told to me by more than one reliable source," said Foley. He added that these examples "are believed, so they're a problem whether they're true or not. But it seems that there is some substance to them but I can't confirm that they're true."
Andrew Doba, the Director of Communications for the Malloy administration issued a brief statement on Foley's claims:
"Mr. Foley's allegations are factually incorrect. The reason he can't back them up is because they're untrue. Mr. Foley owes everyone to whom he referred an immediate apology."
We'll have more on the veracity of these statements. Also, Foley is scheduled to appear on WNPR's Where We Live on Thursday, September 19.
