Rhode Island Governor Candidate Chafee's Campaign Manager Resigns Amid Unemployment Flap

The campaign manager for independent Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee has resigned after he acknowledged he received unemployment benefits while listed on the campaign payroll.

J.R. Pagliarini resigned Thursday and maintains no intentional wrongdoing.

Chafee's acting campaign manager says the revelation was a political attack orchestrated by Democratic rival Frank Caprio's campaign.

Trainor says Pagliarini was laid off last year from a job with the state's higher education board, which Caprio's father chairs.

Pagliarini received his last unemployment check two days before he started with the campaign on Jan. 4, and got his first paycheck Jan. 15. But because the payroll system delays payments for new employees, the campaign says he was listed on the payroll Dec. 19.

Caprio's campaign spokesman says no one in the campaign was involved.