No prison time for campaign worker charged with falsifying nomination papers in R.I. congressional race
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'I have supported this investigation at every step in the hopes that the truth would come to light,' Matos said. 'With this case settled, the facts are clear: Holly McClaren committed a serious crime that undermined the sanctity of our state's free and fair elections. I'm grateful to the law enforcement officers who handled this investigation thoroughly and professionally and whose work ultimately led to today's results.'
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McClaren was
McClaren worked as a part-time field volunteer gathering signatures for Matos during the 2023 Democratic primary for the First Congressional District seat. A criminal investigation was launched, however, when officials in Jamestown, Newport, and East Providence reported suspect signatures of dead people and others who claimed to have never signed the forms.
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The scandal rocked Matos' campaign. The lieutenant governor ultimately finished fourth in the 11-candidate primary election won by now-Congressman Gabe Amo.
Prosecutors alleged McClaren knowingly falsified and submitted nomination papers to the Jamestown and Newport Boards of Canvassers on behalf of Matos between July 11 and 13, 2023.
McClaren has
John R. Grasso, an attorney representing McClaren, maintained that position on Monday.
'She has always denied that she secured any fraudulent signatures,' Grasso told the Globe. 'The charge was that she signed the documents, attesting to the fact that she personally authenticated those signatures, when, in fact, they were gathered by someone else and then just handed to her in a pile of papers, and she signed them.'
Grasso said McClaren, who now lives in Virginia, brought the papers 'to wherever they needed to go, and whoever checked them said, 'You got to sign these.''
'So she flipped the page over and signed them,' he said. 'That's a case of don't sign a document that you haven't read.'
McClaren was one of two people charged with falsifying nomination papers for Matos' campaign: In April 2024, Christopher M. Cotham, of Massachusetts,
Court records show the case against Cotham remains pending.
Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at
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