Dan McKee

Dan McKee was a named defendant, together with the family business McKee Bros. Oil Corp. and family members Helen Willa McKee and James C. McKee, in a lending dispute with Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank. The litigation concerned a secured term loan of $450,000 and a $200,000 seasonal line of credit applied for by McKee Oil; a commitment letter was executed on October 17, 1991. The bank prevailed at the Superior Court on summary judgment, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed on October 17, 1994 (649 A.2d 511). This is a civil judgment involving a business that McKee co-owned/operated, with McKee also named individually as a defendant (is_business_entity true). It predates his political career; no criminal conduct was alleged.

The Rhode Island Attorney General and State Police concluded a three-year probe in October 2024 finding that Governor McKee intentionally and improperly steered a $5.2 million federally funded COVID-era school reopening contract to the ILO Group — a company incorporated two days after McKee became governor and led by Julia Rafal-Baer, a close colleague of McKee adviser Michael Magee. The AG formally found McKee violated procurement regulations, intervening to override a state review team that had selected a lower-competing bidder. The FBI and U.S. Attorney also participated in the investigation. No criminal charges were filed against McKee, Magee, or Rafal-Baer due to insufficient evidence of a criminal quid pro quo. The state ultimately paid ILO $1.8 million before terminating the contract early.

In June 2023, the Rhode Island Republican Party filed a complaint with the RI Ethics Commission alleging Governor McKee violated the state ethics code by accepting a $228 lobbyist-paid lunch at the Capital Grille in Providence in January 2023. The lobbyist, Jeff Britt, represented Scout Ltd., a firm seeking $55 million in state support to redevelop the Cranston Street Armory. The complaint alleged an unlawful gift exceeding the $25 limit. The Ethics Commission opened a formal investigation and voted 6-0 to dismiss the complaint in January 2024, finding no probable cause for a knowing and willful violation, as McKee was unaware the lobbyist had paid the bill.