Former Rhode Island Director of Administration James Thorsen sat atop state government three years ago when a now-notorious private lunch in Philadelphia began the end of his long career in public service.
In March 17 testimony before the state Ethics Commission, Thorsen, in an effort to at least partly clear his name, gave his account of the infamous “Philly Trip” that briefly became a national example of Rhode Islanders behaving badly.
He was doing contract work for the federal government in Indonesia, he said, when the story reached Washington, and his services were suddenly no longer needed…