GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres said he will meet with his lawyer to discuss the motion for a temporary restraining order and other relief filed by Sen. Paul A. Manglona, and taxpayer Carmen Patricia Deleon Guerrero in Superior Court.
“I have not read it, but I will be meeting with my counsel to review the issue,” Torres said. “I have not been served the motion.”
In their motion, Manglona and Deleon Guerrero are also seeking to intervene in the lawsuit filed by the governor against the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations regarding the legality of the subpoena the committee issued against him.
The Republican governor was found by the Democrat-led House JGO committee in contempt of a legislative subpoena for refusing to appear before the panel, which was investigating his public expenditures.
Torres, in his lawsuit, is asking the court to find the subpoena issued by JGO invalid and unlawful.
For their part, Manglona and Deleon Guerrero, who are representing themselves, want the court to prohibit the Senate leadership from proceeding with the governor’s motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment.
They also asked the court to declare null and void the Senate impeachment rules.
According to a lawyer who declined to be identified, the motion filed by Manglona and Deleon Guerrero “must be served upon the parties [Governor Torres and the JGO] so they will have time to respond.”
The governor’s “lawsuit [is] about contempt for not appearing at JGO hearings….Does the motion [filed by Manglona and Deleon Guererro] have the same issues with the pending lawsuit for the court to issue a TRO?”
There is also the question of jurisdiction, the lawyer said. “The Senate is not a party to CV 21-0333,” referring to the lawsuit filed by the governor.
“If the motion to intervene is not properly articulated, then their attempt to join the lawsuit might be denied,” the lawyer added.
On March 31, 2022, after hearing the arguments from both parties regarding JGO’s motion to dismiss the governor’s lawsuit, Judge Pro Tempore Timothy Bellas took the matter under advisement.
Ralph DLG Torres
