ASKED about the ongoing House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations investigation into his public expenditures, Republican Gov. Ralph DLG Torres reiterated his willingness to speak with the members of the Democrat-led panel.
“I’ve always said that my office has always been open if they wanted to talk about it and [to] ask me any questions in the beginning and not go through this whole process,” Torres said.
“I’ve never spoken to any [of them], but my office is still open, as I continue to say,” he added.
The committee has issued several subpoenas, including to the governor’s new chief of staff, former Guam Sen. William “Wil” M. Castro.
The committee chair, Rep. Celina R. Babauta, said Castro’s name appeared in several documents pertaining to the governor’s travels and reimbursement requests from 2015 to 2019.
Babauta said the governor’s lawyers cannot invoke testimonial immunity on behalf of Castro because the questions to be asked pertain to a period of time when Castro was still a Guam senator.
Asked for comment, the governor said, “Everybody has their right of due process. Now that they’ve subpoenaed him…then I’ll give him that due process and we’ll go from there.”
The committee has also approved the issuance of a subpoena to the governor, first lady Diann T. Torres and the governor’s executive secretary, Frances Dela Cruz.
But according to the governor’s Washington D.C.-based legal counsel, Ross Garber, Dela Cruz is entitled to “testimonial immunity.”
The committee disagrees but has allowed Dela Cruz to submit, no later than 10 a.m., Oct. 26, an affidavit relating to her duties and responsibilities at the Office of the Governor. The committee said it also expects Dela Cruz to be physically present when requested.
Ralph DLG Torres
