Jack Nolan, the club‘s general manager, told the newspaper the club‘s membership information is private.
WPRI-TV also reports the club‘s president, Alexander Auersperg, also sent a message to members Wednesday in which he stressed the club does not “discriminate against any race, religion, or ethnic background when it comes to our membership process or to the hiring of our staff.”
Whitehouse, who was first elected in 2006, has faced criticism for years for being a member of the exclusive club as the scion of a wealthy family.
The latest flare up came after a local website, GoLocalProv, asked him recently whether the club was “all-White.” Whitehouse said the club was still working on diversifying membership and that he was “sorry it hasn’t happened yet.”