THE Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government, Law and Federal Relations, and the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations have unanimously adopted a 28-page Senate rules of impeachment.
The EAGI committee is chaired by Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz while the JGLFR committee is headed by Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors. Both are from Tinian.
The proposed rules still need to be approved by the Senate before it can start the impeachment trial of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.
In line with the Legislative Covid Protocol Directive 2021-01, due to the evolving spread of Covid-19 within the Commonwealth, oral testimonies were not received during the joint committee meeting Friday morning.
Also on the agenda was House Resolution 22-14, titled “A House Resolution Impeaching Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres, Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, pursuant to Article II, Section 8 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth for commission of felonies, corruption, and neglect of duty, in violation of Article III, Section 19 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth.”
Regarding this proposed resolution, JGLFR Committee Chair Sen. King-Nabors, who joined the meeting virtually, said, “I would like to refer back to the [Senate] President’s letter to the House regarding the House Resolution 22-14. Being that we have yet to pass or adopt rules regarding the impeachment, that we refrain from making any further comments on this resolution and we wait until the rules are adopted and we can address this resolution accordingly in the full body of the Senate. There are some, again, issues that we have come to understand with this resolution, but until the rules are adopted, we would be out of order and premature to take further action on this resolution. So, with there being no objections from the committee, I ask that we table this…item…until we are able to adopt the rules and proceed as necessary, according to the rules of the Senate in the full body.”
There were no objections by any of the members of the committees.
Senate legal counsel Joey McDoulett noted that the Senate impeachment rules include a section stating that all impeachment proceedings before the Senate or committee shall be recorded and transcribed.
Moreover, all provisions of these rules that are applicable to the impeachment hearing shall apply only to the preliminary determination, not the hearing, before the Senate, whether the matters are held before a committee or the entire Senate.
The panels also added a provision stating that the articles of impeachment shall be presented to the Senate for final verdict and judgment in accordance with Rule 26.
Rule 26 specifies the process of reaching a final verdict and judgment.
Sen. King-Nabors then provided “a brief overview of the genesis of this document and how we came about it. We all know that there was a previous resolution provided by [minority bloc] Sens. Paul [Manglona] and [Edith] Deleon Guerrero which we took into account when creating this document…. I can’t speak to how that document was created. I know that it was, for the most part, a carbon copy of the previous iteration of the impeachment rules [in 2013]. However, there were no timelines [or] parameters set in regard to what we now determine to be the article of impeachment records.”
He added, “There has been public pressure and there’s this narrative around that we in the Senate are trying to prolong this process, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. What we really want to do is be transparent and be accountable for the information that’s provided. So if you review these rules, the first thing that you will notice is that in the House impeachment records… there is a very lengthy description on what we presented, what these co-committees have considered to be acceptable as House impeachment records.”
According to King-Nabors, “If you review and move forward, Rule 9… further clarifies the manner by which the Senate is willing to accept these documents. What we’ve run into in the past, and it’s not just here in the CNMI, this is a common practice in almost any jurisdiction, is called ‘document dumping.’ ”
He said the joint committees “have gone through great lengths to specify…how we want these documents to be provided to the Senate, not because we want to be overly meticulous or want to determine or dictate to the House anything above and beyond what is acceptable, but really, this is in the spirit of expediency and transparency. Because of the length of time that the House has had to create these documents, now we’re going to turn around in the Senate and provide an impeachment trial, or a hearing rather. To go over this information, it would only be right that we are able to accept this information in a fashion in which we can now sift through it in a timely fashion and get to the crux of every assertion moving forward. So, this is why records of articles of impeachment have been bolstered and have been fortified. This was missing in the previous iteration of impeachment rules. Why? I cannot speak to that, but this Senate, the 22nd Legislature, EAGI and JGLFR, feel that this is the best course of action for us to proceed forward and to be able to go through the information and provide the best assessment of that information with regards to what is being asserted.”
Referring to Rule 5, King-Nabors said the proof of burden at the hearing wasn’t really present in any previous rules.
“At the joint committee level, we felt that this was imperative [to include] because this is now the compass which guides the Senate in this decision. So, not only are we hearing the evidence, but we need guidance as to what threshold has to be met to convict or acquit, and this was lacking in previous documentation.”
As for Rule 6, the appointment of presiding officers, King-Nabors said, the committees drafted a comprehensive impeachment document that did not mention specific names of individuals to provide a template for any future Senate impeachment proceedings.
“If we’re going to put this time into a document, it should be comprehensive and it should be one that can be used…moving forward in any fashion,” he said.
On Jan. 12, 2022, by a vote of 15 to 4 with 1 abstention, the Democrat-Independent-led House impeached the Republican governor for commission of felonies, corruption, and neglect of duty. He has denied the allegations.
He will be removed from office if six members of the Republican-led Senate vote for his conviction.
The full Senate is scheduled to convene today, Monday, Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m. in the Senate chamber for a special session to adopt the rules for the impeachment trial.
