THE Senate heard closing arguments on Monday in the impeachment trial of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and will hold a session this Wednesday, May 18, to “address” the House articles of impeachment.
In an apparent attempt to prevent the Senate from resuming the impeachment hearing on Monday, the three members of the Senate minority bloc — Paul A. Manglona, Teresita Santos and Edith Deleon Guerrero — “recused” themselves from the proceedings and instead held an “informational meeting” with some members of the House leadership in the House chamber.
The House leadership has refused to participate in the Senate impeachment hearing under Senate rules that they say are “unfair.”
The three minority bloc senators later said that only four senators were present at the impeachment hearing on Monday even though “at least five senators are and were required to be present in order to constitute the quorum required to conduct any and all Senate sessions, including those respecting Senate impeachment proceedings.”
But according to Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider, the Senate was still in “recess” from Friday, the first day of the impeachment hearing that was attended by the three minority bloc senators, and so “technically” a quorum still existed on Monday when the hearing was resumed.
Torres has been accused of multiple felonies, including theft of utility services, corruption, and neglect of duty, in violation of Article 3, Section 19 of the CNMI Constitution. He has denied the allegations.
On Friday, his lawyer Anthony Aguon presented five witnesses to rebut the charges:
1) Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Executive Director Gary Camacho who said the governor did not commit theft of utility services;
2) former Senior Policy Advisor Glenna S. Palacios who said the governor traveled to the U.S. mainland on official business that benefited the CNMI;
3) Office of Grants Management and State Clearinghouse Administrator Epiphanio Cabrera Jr. who said most government agencies and officials were unaware that first class government travel was prohibited by law;
4) former Office of the Attorney General Chief Investigator Lawrence Pangelinan who said he found out that several public officials had also traveled first class, including Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Attorney General Edward Manibusan, and former AG Joey San Nicolas; and
5) Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Priscilla M. Iakopo who testified that the governor’s trip to the Northern Islands with Deer Meat for Dinner personality Robert Arrington was one of MVA’s “biggest promotional successes.”
On Monday, Aguon called on his final two witnesses, both of whom testified virtually, to speak on the remaining two articles of impeachment: the misuse of government resources, and noncompliance with the subpoena of a legislative committee investigating the governor.
Medical referral office
Joseph Lifoifoi testified under oath that certain items that the House leadership alleged were purchased for the governor’s personal use were for the CNMI medical referral office in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Lifoifoi has been with the office for nearly a decade.
He said the items were purchased by the governor and included laptops, software, Bluetooth earpieces, and computer mouses.
Lifoifoi said these are still being utilized by the office today, and were especially helpful during the pandemic when they were forced to work remotely.
“It was a big help when we had no choice but to work from home,” he said.
Asked whether he believes that the governor misused government funds in purchasing the items, Lifoifoi said, “Oh no. Not at all.”
Contempt
Washington D.C.-based attorney Ross Garber, for his part, said the House Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations cannot subpoena the chief executive because it threatens the balance of powers between co-equal and separate branches of government.
He also said that non-compliance with the subpoena, whose validity has been questioned in court, is not an impeachable offense.
He said there were also attempts by the governor to meet with the House JGO to discuss the panel’s inquiries.
In his closing statement, attorney Aguon said based on Garber’s testimony, the contempt charge is legally defective because the House JGO subpoena violated the balance of powers between co-equal and separate branches of government.
The House, Aguon added, has the heavy burden to prove its articles of impeachment with clear and convincing evidence, but failed to do so.
“This is something that the House has not done and cannot do,” he said, noting that the only evidence brought before the Senate contradicts the articles of impeachment.
“Each piece of this evidence raises more and more questions of the articles of impeachment,” he added.
Aguon noted that the House made a conscious choice not to file an appearance, “just like it made a conscious choice to not submit an impeachment record.”
He said the House has “cherry-picked” facts and “have no one else to blame but themselves…. This impeachment has been a failure from start to finish.”
He said the House failed to comply with its own House rules when it investigated and impeached the governor.
He added that the House also failed to comply with CNMI ethics laws because of Rep. Tina Sablan’s involvement in the process, given that she is running for governor.
He said the House failed to comply with the CNMI Constitution because the articles of impeachment contain six unconstitutional penalties.
The House also failed to comply with the Senate rules and, overall, failed to meet its burden of proving each article of impeachment.
Following Aguon’s closing arguments, the Senate allowed members of the public to speak out.
These included Rep. Tina Sablan and her running mate, Rep. Leila Staffler, both of whom reiterated their criticism of the Senate rules and impeachment hearing.
The rest of those who spoke, which included former Democratic Sen. Frica Pangelinan, defended the governor and urged the senators not to convict him.
“After two years of hype and foreplay…they fail to satisfy,” one of them said, referring to the House leadership. “Instead they chose to sit on the sidelines [and issue] public comment[s].”
According to Senate President Hofschneider, six votes in the nine-member Senate are needed to convict the governor.
The governor’s lawyer, Anthony Aguon, right foreground, and legal counsel Gilbert J. Birnbrich, left, appear before the Senate during the impeachment hearing Monday.
