Buckingham said Fitial has “appointed Assistant Attorney General Meaghan Hassel-Shearer, who has served as counsel to the CNMI [election commission], to proceed in my behalf.”
Hassel-Shearer, the AG said, “will direct activities of the [AG’s office] related to the November 2010 election with the full authority of the attorney general.”
Buckingham said he already “requested federal monitors for the upcoming election and made assurances that they will have full and unfettered access to all aspects of the election.”
He added: “I have no objection to [the Office of Public Auditor] investigating me but rather welcome it, as the facts of this matter, when known, will exonerate me and the Office of the Attorney General.”
Buckingham said he is “confident that the facts,” once investigated, will eventually clear him and his office.
“The Office of the Attorney General has not ‘endorsed’ any candidate for the United States Congress in the upcoming election,” he added.
“No endorsement of candidate [Joseph James Norita] Camacho or of his political party by either me, the Office of the Attorney General, or any attorneys or staff of the [AGO] was either intended or made,” he said.
“This is apparent from the video or my remarks at the gathering which in no way expressed or implied any endorsement of candidate Camacho or any other candidate,” he added.
“I want to make it crystal clear that I have not endorsed [Camacho] and have not asked anyone to vote for him,” Buckingham said.
“Political candidates claiming endorsement by the [AGO] is not the same as me or anyone from our office ‘endorsing’ a candidate. Unauthorized claims of endorsement happen frequently in the robust and no-holds-barred elections which are typical of a healthy democratic system of government,” he added.
Buckingham said “fair and honest elections are critical to a healthy government.”
He said the AGO, in the past, monitored elections “while maintaining strict independence from all candidates, regardless of party.”
He added, “In my service as attorney general, I have continued both the engagement of our office in elections and strict political neutrality.”
OPA has received “several complaints” against Buckingham and the AGO for the “meet and greet” gathering he hosted for Camacho at the governor’s residence on Aug. 28, 2010.
