GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres, through his legal counsel Gil Birnbrich, has appealed in the CNMI Supreme Court the dismissal of his lawsuit against the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations that sought to invalidate the subpoena it issued.
Birnbrich filed the notice of appeal on May 18, a day after Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Timothy Bellas granted the request of the JGO to dismiss with prejudice Torres’ lawsuit.
The notice did not provide the basis for the appeal.
On May 17, Judge Bellas, in an 18-page order, said legislative immunity applies in the case because the subpoena serves a valid legislative purpose.
Bellas finds that the subpoena plainly falls within the “legitimate legislative sphere” protected by the Speech or Debate Clause.
Bellas also said that the “separation of powers doctrine does not afford even the United States President blanket immunity from subpoenas.”
“It is true that the separation of powers doctrine safeguards the independence of each branch of the government and protects it from domination and interference by others,” the judge added.
“Nevertheless, separation of powers does not mean that a sitting executive may never be called to task by the legislature,” he said.
Torres, a Republican governor, was found by the Democrat-Independent-led House JGO committee in contempt of a legislative subpoena for refusing to appear before the panel, which was investigating his public expenditures.
In his lawsuit, Torres asked the court to find the subpoena issued by the legislative committee invalid and unlawful.
Torres, through Birnbrich and the Banes Horey Berman & Miller law firm, said the separation of powers doctrine cannot be trumped by invoking legislative immunity under the constitution’s speech or debate clause.
The JGO committee represented by House legal counsels Joseph L.G. Taijeron Jr. and Brendan Layde, invoked the affirmative defense of legislative immunity to assert “absolute immunity from suit for acts within the sphere of legitimate legislative activity.”
The House JGO’s investigation resulted in the Jan. 12, 2022 impeachment of the governor who was accused of corruption, neglect of duty and felonies of theft as well as contempt. He had denied the charges.
On May 18, 2022, the Republican-led Senate voted to acquit the governor of all charges.
The Office of the Attorney General, for its part, has filed criminal charges against the governor relating to the issuance of airline tickets for business class, first class, or other premium class travel for himself and/or first lady Diann T. Torres. The AG’s office also alleges one count of contempt for failure to appear in compliance with a subpoena.
