THE House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee on Thursday filed an appellate brief in the CNMI Supreme Court in support of the Superior Court’s decision to dismiss Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ lawsuit against the legislative subpoena issued by the committee.
The governor, who has appealed the trial court’s decision, said the JGO’s subpoena “commanding” him to testify before the committee violated Commonwealth law.
In an email to Variety, the JGO committee chairwoman, Rep. Celina Babauta, said, “After the JGO issued its subpoena, the governor decided that he would disregard the CNMI Constitution and ignore his legal obligation to appear. He sued the JGO rather than answer questions under oath. We filed a motion to dismiss based on legislative immunity and the Superior Court reasonably granted our motion.”
She said during the Senate impeachment trial that “the governor had no problem filing his notice to appear during the proceedings in recognition of the same legislative power he now disputes.”
She said her committee had absolute immunity from being sued when it was engaged in a legitimate legislative activity. “The JGO argued that the Committee itself possesses the very same immunity that individual members possess because the JGO investigation was a legitimate legislative activity that would be immune from suit. The Superior Court agreed with the JGO Committee and reasonably granted our motion,” Babauta said.
Rep. Donald Manglona who is also a member of JGO, said “at the heart of the matter, the JGO issued a lawful subpoena based on the CNMI Constitution and CNMI statutes.”
He said the laws of other state and federal jurisdictions support the JGO’s position that “the committee had every right to issue a legislative subpoena for the governor to answer questions related to his misuse of public funds.”
Rep. Tina Sablan, another member of the committee, said, “We would have asked the governor to testify under oath on the same topics that he discussed at his press conferences. The JGO also would have asked him to testify on matters related to legislation — both pending and proposed subjects including his first-class travel, which is currently being charged by the Attorney General’s Office as a criminal offense, as well as why he received free utilities for two private residences, at the same time, including a commercial pig farm.”
According to the JGO, “There are three co-equal branches of the Commonwealth government, each has a critical role to play. The Governor has the audacity to ask the one branch of the CNMI government, the Judiciary, to allow him to ignore the CNMI laws that provide for our Legislature to perform its constitutional duty to check and balance the Executive Branch. The Executive Branch cannot continue to flout the rule of law.”
Babauta said her committee looks forward to oral arguments on Oct. 27, 2022, “and to putting this matter to rest, once and for all.”
“As for the governor’s assertion that he is immune from the Committee’s subpoena,” she added, “he will have the opportunity to argue this point in his pending criminal trial before the Commonwealth Superior Court for contempt of the Legislature.”
The chair of the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee, Rep. Celina Babauta, speaks during a House session in this file photo. Seated next to her are Reps. Edwin Propst, left, and Tina Sablan, right.
