By Gemma Q. Casas
Variety News Staff

THE Fitial administration says instead of sending Federal Bureau of Investigation agents to investigate a disgraced lobbyist’s dealings with the CNMI government, Washington should help the commonwealth cope with its worsening economic crisis.
“Instead of investigating Jack Abramoff, who has already been successfully prosecuted, why not investigate the CNMI economy and see how America can help our desperate community survive these economic times?” Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said in an e-mail to Variety. “Why not investigate how they can help Gov. Benigno R. Fitial save this small and fragile economy for the 70,000 people that live here?”
Reyes added, “Abramoff is history and we are dying economically. We desperately need the federal government’s help and support. If they can’t extend actual tangible economic assistance, then they at least should not do us any further harm.”
He said the administration is focused on the CNMI’s economic issues and the federal takeover threat.
“We are not terribly concerned about the Abramoff issue except that some people may continue to use this past issue against us for political reasons, in retaliation for past wrongs, or to advance a federal takeover agenda, when our economic and political situation has markedly changed for the worse,” Reyes said.
At least four FBI agents from the U.S. are on Saipan to look into the work performed by Abramoff for the CNMI.
Reyes said the federal government should focus its investigation on how unfairly the citizens of the commonwealth are being treated.
“Most of the people of the CNMI do not care about the Abramoff issue,” he said. “They care about continuing to receive their paychecks. They care about their rental income in a depressed real estate market, with falling rents. They care about further cuts in government spending and possible mass layoffs. They care about jobs and business activities. They care about putting food on the table and having enough to provide for their families. They care about things like auto loans, health insurance, food, mortgage payments, (power) bills, and medical bills. They are not thinking about Jack Abramoff. They could care less about Jack Abramoff. What they need is an improved CNMI economy, and what we need is a federal government concerned about doing whatever it can to help this unrepresented group of American Pacific islanders who are losing sons in Iraq on a regular basis. That’s what America should care about when it comes to the CNMI, not Jack Abramoff.”