ON the agenda for the Senate special session at 1:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, May 18, is House Resolution 22-14, calling for the impeachment of Republican Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.
Torres was impeached by the Democrat-Independent-led House of Representatives for alleged commission of felonies, corruption, and neglect of duty. He has denied the charges.
For the first time in CNMI history, an impeachment trial was conducted by the Senate, lasting two days: Friday, May 13 and Monday, May 16, for a cumulative total of roughly six hours.
Torres was not physically present for the trial, but was represented by his lawyer, Anthony H. Aguon, who was accompanied by the Office of the Governor legal counsel Gil Birnbrich.
On Friday, the governor said, “I hope that through this process, you realize that there are two sides of every story, and today, starting today, you’ll hear my side of the story. We look forward to clearing this and [moving] forward.”
He added, “There’s a process and we do have, and then, of course, some other cases are pending with the Superior Court,” he said, referring to his lawsuit against the House Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, and the criminal case filed by the Office of the Attorney General against him over first-class government travel and non-compliance with a legislative subpoena.
“I respect the process,” the governor said. “The House had their own process. Now, the Senate has their own process. But, again, specifically, for me, I’ll just wait until this process ends, and then I’ll make my own personal comment after that.”
The governor thanked all of his supporters for sticking by him since day one.
“I wanted to thank all the supporters that showed love from day one. Even the hundreds of supporters on the day of the House impeachment, they were there from day one. And even during the Senate hearing and the thousands of supporters that have shown love, blessings, prayers — I want to personally thank all of them for the continuous support and belief in this administration.”
According to Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider, six votes in the nine-member Senate are needed to convict the governor.
Supporters of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres are seen at a canopy outside the legislative building on Friday, the first day of the Senate impeachment hearing.
