MINORITY bloc Sen. Paul A. Manglona reiterated his request for an immediate investigation into the alleged ex parte communications between Senate special counsel Joe McDoulett and the governor’s personal legal counsel, Viola Alepuyo.
In a letter to Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider on Tuesday, Manglona said Sen. Karl King-Nabors “attempted to explain edits made by his close family friend,” Alepuyo, saying they “were benign in nature and that ‘it’s not uncommon for legislators to get input from members of the community to assist in drafting bills, resolutions, and rules.’ What is highly uncommon is when a Senate committee chairman who will oversee the impeachment of a sitting governor approaches an attorney who has represented the very same Office of the Governor to assist with the creation of the rules for that governor’s impeachment proceedings,” Manglona added.
“What is even more uncommon is when the attorney in question has served as the president of the governor’s election fundraising non-profit organization for the past five years,” he said.
Contrary to King-Nabor’s assertion, Manglona said, “I have indeed read the adopted impeachment rules and it is clear to everyone in this Commonwealth that they lean heavily in favor of the governor. Now it appears we have some insight to how this came to be. Senator King-Nabors hoped to minimize the egregious nature of these violations when he stated there wasn’t any ex parte communication because the rules had not been adopted when the governor’s personal counsel helped draft them.”
According to Manglona, “Even if Senator King-Nabors doesn’t comprehend the unethical implications of his actions, attorneys Viola Alepuyo and Joe McDoulett most certainly should. They knew who they represented and the conflicts they overlooked, but they continued to engage in this unethical behavior because they didn’t think they would get caught in the act.”
Based on the digital footprints left on the draft, Manglona said the governor’s personal counsel either created the Senate rules on behalf of Governor Torres from the start, or she played a role in drafting, reviewing and editing the rules which were eventually adopted by the Senate Impeachment Committee and the Senate body.
“Whatever the case, it is completely improper. Mr. President, I implore you to immediately investigate this matter. This letter serves as my second formal request to our constitutionally-recognized Senate legal counsel to identify which laws and rules were broken,” Manglona told the Senate president.
Manglona is also seeking a “complete list of all instances when the governor’s personal legal counsel and the Senate’s special counsel communicated and collaborated on the impeachment proceedings, as well as any additional improper communication or collaboration.”
Manglona earlier said that the document titled “Senate Impeachment Rules V6.1 Joey Edits,” showed a number of edits made by Alepuyo to the Senate impeachment rules at 11:21 and 11:22 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022.
McDoulett then made edits on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, Manglona said.
Alepuyo began serving as the governor’s personal legal counsel on Feb. 18, 2022.
The Senate impeachment rules were adopted by the committee on Feb. 25, 2022, and by the full Senate body on March 3, 2022.
Paul A. Manglona
