HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — While Delegate Michael San Nicolas has yet to provide a comment to The Guam Daily Post or via his social media accounts about his ethics investigation being placed in the hands of the U.S. Justice Department, the report released publicly by the Office of Congressional Ethics continues to provide voters more details into the “substantial” evidence against him.
He is now facing a possible criminal inquiry with the findings of the Office of Congressional Ethics investigation against him sent to prosecutors for their consideration.
San Nicolas, a Democrat, is running for governor this year.
Evidence outlined by the 217-page report amounts to potential violations of federal law, including that San Nicolas illegally received cash donations above federal election limits and engaged in a conspiracy to cover it up to investigators and other federal officials.
Getting to these conclusions wasn’t made easy by the island’s sitting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, the report noted.
Both the investigative subcommittee and the full ethics office took issue repeatedly with San Nicolas not testifying or offering evidence throughout the yearslong process.
“Delegate San Nicolas’ overall lack of candor and diligence in cooperating with the [Investigative Subcommittee or] ISC’s investigation reflected poorly on the institution of the House and, thereby, brought discredit upon the House,” the report found.
Officials noted at one point he assured them he would “happily engage and cooperate fully” with the investigation, but instead those pledges, like previous ones “rang hollow.”
The report notes multiple opportunities where San Nicolas could have appeared voluntary or under subpoena to provide evidence or statements in his defense between 2019 and 2022. This includes the subcommittee taking “the extraordinary step” of issuing a subpoena to compel his testimony, with which he also failed to comply.
His actions were called “contemptuous” in the report.
“After considering Delegate San Nicolas’ efforts to delay the (subcommittee’s) investigation, lack of respect for the ISC’s jurisdiction and processes, and attempts to interfere with the ongoing investigation, the ISC determined that the interests of justice would be best served by resolving this matter on the basis of the current record rather than allowing Delegate San Nicolas to perpetrate further delays,” the report stated.
Due to these delays, some allegations were not fully investigated, including whether he indeed employed a woman with whom he was having an affair. One factor leading to these matters being unresolved was the practice of tactics from San Nicolas, according to the report.
“Delegate San Nicolas failed to fulfill his duty of candor; rather than fully cooperate with the ISC’s investigation, he has repeatedly sought to evade and obstruct review of his conduct,” the report asserted. “While the Delegate engages in delay tactics, the statute of limitations for the potential criminal conduct at issue continues to tick away and may expire next year for some of the allegations and in 2024 for others.”
Excessive cash donation
One of the main crimes potentially committed by San Nicolas stems from a $10,000 cash donation he received during his 2018 congressional campaign.
Shortly after the primary election, where San Nicolas defeated longtime Delegate Madeleine Bordallo in a head-to-head contest, he, former campaign manager John Paul Manuel and a friendly campaign donor met at a local bar to discuss the campaign’s need for more funds, the report details.
Manuel eventually was a key witness in the delegate’s ethics investigation.
According to testimony Manuel provided, during the conversation, the donor offered a $10,000 contribution, to which San Nicolas allegedly replied, “Great, but you have to give it to me in cash.”
San Nicolas was well aware of federal limits on campaign contributions, the report states, which were capped at $2,700 per election that cycle. The money was given in two installments, the report details. On one of these occasions, Manuel witnessed San Nicolas hide the cash in a corner ceiling tile of his office.
The money allegedly was going to be falsely accounted for as a small donation that didn’t require specific donor information. According to the report, evidence was found that one fundraiser could have served this purpose.
Around the time San Nicolas received the illegal, and now mostly refunded, $10,000 cash donation, his campaign hosted a $25 fundraiser at a bar. The event reportedly raised $13,543, which equals 542 tickets sold — despite the fact that the venue could “barely hold 100 people.”
“In fact, at $13,543, (this) fundraiser was Delegate San Nicolas’ most successful fundraiser in 2018, raising over $4,500 more than any other fundraiser during the 2018 election cycle,” the report noted.
The donor’s cash contribution was not reported to the Federal Election Commission in 2018 and, instead, San Nicolas “waited approximately two years” to report a $9,000 cash contribution from the donor, over two filings submitted in September and October 2020. Violators of these federal election laws face criminal penalties.
Conspiracy to cover up
How San Nicolas and his associates responded to the improper contribution may also be a criminal matter.
Substantial evidence also exists that he “engaged in a conspiracy” to mask illicit donations, according to the report.
In November 2019, San Nicolas “dispatched” a staffer from Washington, D.C., to Guam, according to the report, which noted the man has a criminal record and used to fight professionally.
The staffer was tasked to have a meeting with the donor who provided the improper cash contribution, and deliver a message that the donation “never happened.”
Citing interviews with both the staffer and donor, the report contends the staffer followed the donor to his car in his attempt to deliver the message. The donor thought “it was very weird that (the staffer) just showed up without any invitation or anything.”
The timing of this conversation was “shortly after” the ethics investigation entered its second phase review.
“The Delegate was aware that [the Office of Congressional Ethics] was investigating allegations raised, … would have known that Campaign Donor was a key witness to certain of those allegations,” the report noted.
After news broke about the improper contribution, around Dec. 4, 2019, another staffer of San Nicolas sent a letter to the donor.
“Among other things, the letter repeatedly refers to the contribution as ‘inadvertent’ and claims that Delegate San Nicolas never received the money, but nonetheless offers to reimburse the donor,” the report disclosed. The donor was asked to sign a prewritten statement avowing that San Nicolas did not receive the contribution, and that no guidance was provided by Manuel regarding the contribution.
“The letter appears to have been a deliberate attempt by Delegate San Nicolas to conceal his misconduct and influence the donor,” the report found.
Instead, the donor sent a letter drafted by his attorneys, noting that “prior to making the cash contribution, he was informed by Delegate San Nicolas’ campaign that the contribution was lawful and requested a refund of his $9,000 cash contribution upon now learning that the contribution was improper,” the report detailed.
Investigators also noted the staffer who forwarded the suggested language to the donor “claimed she had no first-hand knowledge regarding the details contained in the letter and failed to adequately explain how she drafted a letter for which she had no underlying information.”
“Delegate San Nicolas has repeatedly refused to meaningfully address these allegations, and has evaded questioning by this (subcommittee). In light of the serious and potentially criminal nature of the allegations, the ISC recommends that the matter be referred to the Department of Justice for further review,” the report concluded.
Guam Delegate Michael San Nicolas and his running mate, Sabrina Salas Matanahe, speak to the media after picking up their campaign packet at the Guam Election Commission office on April 19, 2022 in Tamuning.