GOVERNOR Ralph DLG Torres said he will be represented by attorney Anthony H. Aguon in the Senate impeachment hearing set to start at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 13, in the Senate chamber.
Attorney Viola Alepuyo is one of the governor’s lawyers in the criminal case filed against him by the Office of the Attorney General, but she will not represent him in the Senate impeachment hearing.
On March 18, 2022, Sen. Karl King-Nabors in a letter informed the governor that Alepuyo “provided some assistance to me in making minor adjustments to a draft of the Senate Rules of Impeachment. Sen. Paul Manglona has mistakenly and unjustifiably ascribed nefarious motive to my request for her help.”
King-Nabors then asked Torres to withdraw Alepuyo as the governor’s legal counsel.
“By doing so, it would avoid any unnecessary distractions and delays relating to the Senate hearing,” King-Nabors added.
For her part, the chair of the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee, Democrat Rep. Celina Babauta, has asked the CNMI Bar Association to investigate Alepuyo’s “highly questionable behavior,” and “take disciplinary actions to include the suspension of her license to practice law.”
Babauta said King-Nabors’ “close relationship” with Alepuyo, who has also served on the governor’s fundraising committee, “was clearly not disclosed when he served as a chairman of the Senate committee that drafted the Senate impeachment rules, nor when Ms. Alepuyo entered her appearance.”
“In view of these relationships with Governor Torres and Senator King-Nabors, Ms. Alepuyo committed egregious violations of the Model Code of Professional Conduct on February 13, 2022,” Babauta alleged.
Asked if he will be physically present for the impeachment hearing, the governor said he is waiting for his attorney’s recommendation.
On Jan. 12, 2022, the Republican governor was impeached by the Democrat-Independent-led House of Representatives on allegations of felonies of theft, corruption and neglect of duty. He has denied the charges.
Six votes in the nine-member, Republican-led Senate are needed to convict the governor and remove him from office.
Anthony Aguon
