Nisperos has already resigned from the AG’s Office and will now work on Guam.
Cruz at the same time urged Gregory and Nisperos to block the federalization lawsuit filed by the Fitial administration.
“You made the CNMI your home, now we ask you to represent the people of the commonwealth and challenge Howard P. Willens and Deanne C. Siemer’s lawsuit against the federal government for it is wrong — it disrespects and dishonors the people of the commonwealth,” Cruz told Gregory in his letter.
Willens is the governor’s special legal counsel. Attorney Deanne Siemer is his wife. The two are the leading proponents of suing the federal government over the CNMI federalization law.
Asked for comment, Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said Cruz “has no credibility and we do not put much credence into his statements.”
Gregory and Nisperos are competent and ethical attorneys and the administration continues to have confidence in them, he said.
Contrary to Cruz’s claim, Reyes said the AG’s Office has “prosecuted many cases that have not been prosecuted before, including white collar and corruption cases, even exposing problems with [the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.] and other agencies.”
Reyes added, “Cruz is not a lawyer and cannot competently determine which cases are ripe for prosecution. The [AGO] is also pursuing promising civil cases to recover funds lost by the CNMI, including the case against [former Insular Affairs Director] Ferdinand Danny Aranza….”
Willens and Siemer, Cruz said, misguided and derailed the efforts of Gregory and Nisperos to prosecute serious crimes.
He said Willens and Siemer, who helped draft the Covenant and the CNMI Constitution, “received numerous federal grants through the Council for the Humanities to write their recollections in the making of the Covenant.”
“Today,” Cruz added, “they are filing a lawsuit against the very government that supported the once noble intents of educating our people in the true meaning of our Covenant and Constitution.”
Cruz said it is also “unfortunate” that Gov. Benigno R. Fitial resorted to filing “his own personal self-interest lawsuit seeking to protect his investments including that of his constituents against the federal government.”
He added the lawsuit was based on the advice of Willens and Siemer.
“The one and most important issue that we have been addressing throughout this entire federal immigration intervention are the true facts that for over two decades our CNMI Labor and Immigration have been corrupted by a majority of past administrations and elected officials whom are still presently in office,” Cruz said.
