Rhode Island Representatives Karen MacBeth and Michael Chippendale front the House Oversight Committee investigation of Curt Schilling’s floptastic 38 Studios and the $75 million in taxpayer dough that went up in smoke. This week, writes Bloomberg News’ Neil Weinberg and Michelle Kaske, the lawmakers received written threats by mail (link swiped from Baseball Think Factory) :
“You have a beautiful family,” said the letter to Chippendale, which arrived April 29. “Stop poking around.”
“The only common link between Representative MacBeth and me is this investigation,” said Chippendale, a Foster Republican. “So it’s clear what they’re talking about.”
MacBeth’s legislative office received a threatening letter May 1, after Chippendale warned her to be on the lookout, she said. The Cumberland Democrat, who chairs the oversight panel, called police, who opened it in her presence before taking it away.
State police are probing the threats, Major Todd Catlow, a spokesman, said in a telephone interview.
“We’ll try to trace the origins of the letters that were sent and we’ll go from there,” Catlow said in a telephone interview.
In recent weeks, the legislators say, they have unraveled ties among 38 Studios, people who lobbied for the project and those who might have benefited.