In an interview with KSPN 2, Sablan was asked to react to the leaked Office of the Public Auditor report regarding the “meet and greet” event hosted by the AG for the governor’s delegate candidate who later lost to Sablan in the Nov. 2010 election.
“If the attorney general has any respect for the people or Northern Mariana Islands he would at least offer a public apology for his actions. And if he has any sense of honor, he would apologize to the public employees who were pressured into breaking commonwealth elections and ethics laws by their higher ups,” Sablan told KSPN.
OPA’s confidential report which the governor decided not to divulge was submitted to him on Dec. 13, 2010.
It was leaked on Wednesday, the same day the AG’s Office filed a power theft case against Joanna Pai, the wife of Public Auditor Mike Pai.
The OPA report said the AG committed crime in hosting a political gathering at Gov. Benigno R. Fitial’s residence in Gualo Rai last year.
Buckingham has denied instructing anyone to vote for any candidate either in his “official” capacity as AG or as a private citizen.
He also said he never endorsed a candidate and recused himself from participating in the electoral process.
Last June, the governor defended his AG and claimed that it was OPA that “violated” the law.
He also described OPA’s investigation on Buckingham, as “very disrespectful.”
“OPA thinks they are god,” the governor told Variety.
