HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Office of the Attorney General has posted on its website a list of status updates for contracts and procurement reviews for the 22 agencies from which the OAG withdrew legal representation due to conflict issues regarding its investigation of these agencies.
The attorney general’s office published the list due to what it called an apparent release of “inaccurate information” by the governor and her Cabinet officials.
“In order to provide accurate information, today we created a link to contracts and procurement documents submitted to the AG’s office for our review pertaining to the 22 government departments and agencies under civil and/or criminal investigations. Our office is adapting to legal attacks arising from our prosecution of public officials accused of breaking Guam’s laws by our grand juries, to ensure our ethical duties and to protect the people’s interests in good government,” the OAG stated in a release.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero has been critical of the AG’s withdrawal, stating that it would adversely impact government services and procurement efforts. Agencies have also written to the speaker’s office about how the AG’s withdrawal would impact them or potentially impact them.
The governor called the Guam Legislature into special session Tuesday to consider legislation meant to address the AG’s withdrawal – the second call in several days. But just like the initial call last week, lawmakers did not pass any legislation before adjourning session Tuesday.
Attorney General Douglas Moylan on Feb. 28 disseminated letters indicating he would temporarily withdraw his office’s representation from government of Guam entities currently under investigation.
The decision stemmed from conflict concerns raised by defense counsel in two corruption cases at the Superior Court of Guam because attorneys at the OAG provided legal advice to agencies in which former or current officials are now facing prosecution. An evidentiary hearing in one case took place Tuesday, while a judge in the other case is already considering whether the OAG should be disqualified from prosecuting officials in that case.
Moylan said he disagrees there is a conflict but is withdrawing the OAG’s legal representation until the courts decide the matter.
To address procurement concerns, the AG said his office will continue to process and sign off on documents during the temporary withdrawal but will include a disclaimer stating that the OAG is not serving as legal counsel.
Moylan previously stated that he does not believe an emergency existed regarding his office’s withdrawal with the workaround in place nor did he think any bills were required, and he believed the courts should be allowed to adjudicate conflict concerns against the OAG.
“All contracts and procurements from departments and agencies under investigation shall be reviewed according to our duty under Guam law to protect the people of Guam/government of Guam. These documents will either be returned to the sender if there is a problem, inviting the correction, or processed with the disclosure that we are not approving it as the attorney for the public official who submitted it for our review,” the OAG release stated.
In her latest call to session, the governor said agencies still need a solution now for legal services so that they can continue operating. The measure she submitted for the Legislature’s consideration in Tuesday’s special session included giving agencies the ability to contract an attorney or enter into an agreement with other agencies for legal services when the OAG has withdrawn its representation or declines to provide legal services.
The OAG’s release was published Tuesday night and stated that within the next 24 to 48 hours, the contract and procurement review status list would be expanded to include all government departments and agencies that submit such documents for review.
Douglas Moylan
