Villagomez has been indicted for conspiracy to defraud the federal government, wire fraud, theft concerning federal funds, bribery, and other forms of misconduct in public office.
Asked for comment yesterday, Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said: “I believe that is a matter for the House to decide, based on their constitutional authority. We continue to respect the Constitution and the constitutional process.”
According to the CNMI Constitution, the lt. governor can be impeached for commission of a felony, corruption or neglect of duty.
The House of Representatives may initiate impeachment proceedings by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members and the Senate may convict by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members. The House has 20 members; the Senate, nine. This means that at least 13 House members must vote to impeach Villagomez, and six senators can convict him.
Sablan’s resolution states that the House is authorized by the Constitution to conduct legislative investigations to determine if there is a cause for impeachment.
She proposes that the House form a special investigative committee to investigate the allegations against Villagomez, who pleaded not guilty to the indictments filed in federal court.
The committee will have seven members appointed by the House speaker, who will also name its chairperson.
The committee will meet in public and must inform the people in advance of all its meetings.
Its members may gather evidence and hear testimony at any location designated by the chairperson within the commonwealth.
They must ensure “due process, fundamental fairness, and a thorough investigation.”
The resolution states that the committee “shall have the power to administer oaths and affirmations, to compel the attendance and testimony of persons by subpoenas, and the production of papers, documents, and other evidence by subpoenas duces tecum, pursuant to [the law], when the testimony, documents, or evidence is necessary for or incident to any inquiry relevant to the business or purposes of the Special Investigative Committee, and to hold in contempt any person for failing or refusing to appear in compliance with a subpoena, or having appeared, for failing or refusing to testify under oath or affirmation, to answer any relevant question, or to furnish any relevant book, paper, or other document subpoenaed by or on behalf of the Special Investigative Committee, pursuant to [the law]….”
The committee, the resolution added, “shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives within 90 days of being duly established….”
Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, asked her colleagues last August to impeach Gov. Benigno R. Fitial for his “staggering betrayal of the public trust,” and urge the lt. governor to resign.
Some lawmakers, however, said they could not force Villagomez to resign, and that Sablan should just allow the legal process to “move forward.”
Another lawmaker said not everyone agreed that “impeachment is the way to go.”
In an interview, Sablan said yesterday that the “fact that there are criminal proceedings taking place right now does not remove the imperative for the Legislature to at the very least investigate the very serious allegations that have been brought against the lt. governor. The trial could drag on beyond the remainder of the lt. governor’s term, or it could end very quickly in either conviction or acquittal — but the timing and outcome of the criminal trial is irrelevant to the legislative investigation, and does not absolve us of our responsibilities to our constituents to carefully and fairly examine all the issues related to the alleged misconduct of the lt. governor, and to determine whether grounds exist for impeachment.”
She said she considered introducing a resolution calling for Vilagomez to resign “for the good of the commonwealth.”
But, she added, “after some extensive discussions with other members and advisors, and after studying the example recently set by the Illinois General Assembly with respect to the impeachment of Governor Blagoyevich, it seemed a fairer and more prudent course of action to begin with a formal legislative investigation that would ultimately result in a report of the findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives as to what action, if any, should be taken.”
Sablan said she is aware “that there are some members of the House who for various reasons are reluctant to outright call for the lt. governor to resign, and also hesitant to launch into impeachment proceedings. I am hopeful that enough members will agree that we should at least take a look at the matter, hold formal hearings and review all the evidence, and decide on the basis of those hearings and evidence whether or not to impeach the lt. governor. The resolution forming the Special Investigative Committee is the first step in that process. And if we cannot get enough members to agree to at least investigate the matter, then there will certainly not be enough members to call for the lt. governor’s resignation or to pass articles of impeachment, if grounds for impeachment exist.”
