PROVIDENCE -- In his first live debate with Democratic opponent Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee came out swinging yesterday with allegations the former attorney general dropped the ball by not prosecuting earlier evidence of wrongdoing by the president of Roger Williams Medical Center.

The candidates also touched on Iraq, Social Security privatization and, briefly, on immigration reform.

But on the day a federal jury convicted the hospital's former president and vice president, Robert A. Urciuoli and Frances P. Driscoll, for their roles in a State House influence-peddling scandal involving camouflaged payments to former state Sen. John Celona between 1998 and early 2004, the usually reserved Chafee was all over Whitehouse.

Whitehouse accused Chafee of "confusing" his facts, not understanding the difference between a civil and criminal case, and descending to a "new low" in campaign conduct.

They interrupted each other, talked over each other and barely looked at one another after a tense hour on Dan Yorke's WPRO radio talk show that finally put to rest suspicions the high-stakes, nationally watched race would be a snooze-fest.

After the radio debate came this from Whitehouse: "It's sad that Lincoln Chafee has again embraced the Karl Rove playbook of campaign tactics and is now launching baseless, personal attacks instead of explaining how continued Republican control of the Senate is good for Rhode Islanders."

The second of their five scheduled radio and TV debates comes Monday.

"He had two decisions to make: prosecute it criminally or recuse himself and he didn't do either," said Chafee, suggesting -- both during and after the debate -- that Whitehouse's judgment was clouded by the direct and indirect involvement of "Democratic bigwigs."

More specifically, Chafee noted that Urciuoli is married to the sister of former Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino; and Richard Licht, a former lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate candidate who made runs at both Chafee (2000) and his late father, John H. Chafee (1988), was on the hospital board at the time in question.

The response from Whitehouse: "When you don't have good ideas you can run on, when you can't explain how you are going to go down and vote for a Republican Senate and that's going to be any good for Rhode Island, then what can you do? You want to change the subject."

Chafee hinged his line of attack on Whitehouse's handling of an earlier controversy involving alleged expense-account abuses by Urciuoli.

An internal review, commissioned by the hospital's trustees, discovered thousands of dollars of inappropriate or "highly questionable" expenses, including golf trips and family dinners and stays in luxurious hotels.

In addition, the review commissioned by hospital trustees advised that Urciuoli "may have committed a serious fraud upon the hospital" when he billed $5,998 for an eight-day health-care conference -- that did not take place -- at the Scottsdale Princess Resort in Arizona.

In 2000, in his role as attorney general, Whitehouse announced that he had persuaded Urciuoli to repay $85,000 that the hospital spent two years earlier investigating his alleged misuse of hospital money.

Whitehouse said then -- and again during yesterday's debate -- that he believed he had struck a "major blow" with the settlement.

But Chafee accused Whitehouse of letting slip an opportunity to shut Urciuoli's unscrupulous activities down six years earlier. He faulted him for not trying harder to obtain a copy of the review, by ex-prosecutor F. Dennis Saylor IV, that laid out a host of criminal charges that had been lodged against other hospital executives for fraudulent cost reports, including attempted larceny and tax evasion.

"It's a shame," Chafee said.

"What's really a shame," countered Whitehouse, "is that you are just being very misleading. I understand why you are doing this . . . I understand that it's not good for you to have to explain to the people of Rhode Island that you are going to go down to Washington and vote for this continuing Republican leadership."

"Are you going to blame George Bush for Roger Williams Hospital?" Chafee asked.

"No, I'm not doing that at all," Whitehouse said. "I'm saying that's why you are trying to raise this subject at this point, but you are confusing two very different things: one an investigation into a civil matter and . . ."

Chafee cut him off again. "It was criminal. It was larceny. It was fraud . . . [according to] the Saylor report which you did not even request."

"Not according to the relevant prosecutors," Whitehouse insisted. "And the advice was confirmed by the fact the hospital was unwilling to press charges."

Elaborating after the debate, Whitehouse said he still did not believe his staff had any way to obtain the Saylor report when the hospital refused to provide it, citing attorney-client privilege.

"We went forward with all the strength we had . . . and we achieved from Mr. Urciuoli an $85,000 payment which is very significant and in my judgment probably more than would have been obtained by a criminal investigation against a man who had no prior criminal record, in a nonviolent crime, with a good reputation in the community.

"So I think we delivered a very, very hard blow," he said. "As far as I know, he didn't ever mess around with his expense account again."

Whitehouse said he is proud of his record in the public corruption arena.

He took credit for launching, in his role as U.S. attorney, the investigation into Providence corruption -- originally known as "Crocodile Smile" -- that led after his departure to the conviction of former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci; and later, as attorney general, the investigation that led to the arrest and October 2002 indictment of former Lincoln town administratorJonathan Oster, who still awaits trial.

Chafee confronted him with an excerpt from an Associated Press story in which Antonio R. Freitas -- the Providence businessman working undercover for the FIBI on the Providence sting -- "said he never trusted Attorney General Whitehouse."

"Freitas said he agreed to be a cooperating witness in the City Hall corruption case in Providence only after he was assured that Whitehouse would not know his identity. Freitas felt that Whitehouse, during his tenure as U.S. attorney, tried to thwart the federal investigation of Cianci and his subordinates . . . and he had good reason."

Whitehouse said Chafee did not know the whole story.

Responding to reporters' questions after the debate, Whitehouse noted that Freitas had been convicted in 2000 of violating a no-contact order and of domestic assault, so "he has ulterior motives for being irritated with me for not having overlooked what he was up to."

But all he said on-air was that "the case was already under way when Mr. Freitas came into it." Over his voice came Chafee's: "Just like we see with Roger Williams . . . dare not step on Democratic bigwig's toes."

Whitehouse: "Are you going to stop interrupting me?"

kgregg@projo.com / (401) 277-7078