THE House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations on Tuesday unanimously voted to hold Gov. Ralph DLG Torres in contempt of a legislative subpoena after he failed to appear before the panel to answer questions pertaining to his public expenditures.
House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez is expected to formally ask the Office of the Attorney General to prosecute the governor for contempt.
Present in the meeting that started at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday were the committee chair, Rep. Celina Babauta, Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao, Reps. Tina Sablan, Edwin Propst, Donald Manglona, Richard Lizama and Vicente Camacho. Rep. John Paul Sablan and House Floor Leader Ralph N. Yumul were in the gallery.
It was Rep. Tina Sablan who made the motion for a roll-call vote to hold the governor in contempt.
In her remarks, she said the committee had made every effort to engage in accommodation and negotiation to get the information required for its fact-finding investigation without a legal battle between the executive and legislative branches.
But she said the governor replied with an “unserious and insulting suggestion” to speak to only one member of the committee.” In addition, according to his lawyers, the governor’s testimony would not be under oath.
Rep. Tina Sablan said the governor’s “reckless failure to comply has left us with no choice and we do not take lightly our action today to enforce our lawful subpoena and hold him accountable for violating it.”
Rep. Celina R. Babauta said the governor failed to comply with a “constitutionally backed subpoena” and had “intentionally disregarded the rule of law.”
“This alone justifies contempt findings because he has refused to appear and to provide any testimony under oath,” Babauta said.
Verified
Vice Speaker Attao, for his part, said: “Our people deserve the very best and we cannot give them anything less. There are others after us and if this would be the blueprint of what is to come in the future we should continue on that route,” he added referring to the Legislature’s investigative authority.
He said the governor has had an opportunity to speak up a year and a half ago when he, as the speaker, created a special bicameral committee on executive expenditures.
Attao said they have “verified” the information relating to the governor’s reimbursements and other expenditures.
At first, he said he believed that a lot of the items that were brought up were defensible. But when the documents started to accumulate from five binders to three boxes and over 20,000 pages of documents, Attao said it became apparent that the governor was using public funds for his travels, hotel accommodations and purchase of goods.
“So for those out there in the community — I know I have been silent on many issues since the [previous] House, but those were not for bad reasons. Those were for looking at documents and [verifying] every single document,” Attao said.
“So to those who [say that] this committee has been a waste of time and money, I suggest that we should get back to our job as [legislators] and say there are more important duties to attend to, and safeguarding public funds from waste and abuse — there is nothing more important than [those] right now,” he said.
“There is history of a lot of abuses and if we don’t fix and understand the history of where we came from we will never be able to provide for those after us,” he added.
Democracy
Rep. Celina Babauta said “the guardrails of democracy we once cherished have become dangerously unmoored under the current administration.”
She said the governor “has crossed the constitutional line. What is especially troubling [is that] Governor Torres has routinely flouted the rule of law on American soil. We are governed by a democracy and democracy is not a cloistered event. The actions of the governor are a testament of how far democracy has deteriorated in the Marianas.”
The governor, she added, “has insulted the democratic ideals and principles of men and women in uniform who have sworn to defend and protect our liberty , sovereignty and freedom. This is not an issue I take lightly. Before Governor Torres further disrespect the ideals and principles that our brave men and women uphold, I proudly stand before them to defend their ideals.”
“Our honorable brave men and women in uniform from the CNNI have asked for nothing in return except to support their ideals and uphold those same beliefs,” she added.
Babauta said after Super Typhoon Soudelor hit the Commonwealth, the governor and the first lady were “traveling to and fro” while the people were picking up the pieces of their homes without power and without water.
The governor said he wants to clear his name but when the time came to testify he was a no-show, Babauta said. He rejected to be put under oath and provide any explanation or responses to the JGO inquiries, she added.
“This was his opportunity and he blew it. He has at his disposal attorney Ross Garber who was given a $150,000 contract, attorney Banes who was given $50,000 and his in-house legal counsel Gil Birbrich who has a salary of $60,000,” Babauta said.
Rep Tina Sablan said the governor has stated “time and again, all we had to do is talk to him, ask him directly. But when push came to shove, he has refused to appear and answer questions under oath. He has invoked immunity and privilege for himself, his staff, his [Department of Public Safety] commissioner without legal merit. He has allowed his [executive] secretary to be held in contempt. So much for nothing to hide.”
Face the consequences
Rep. Donald Manglona said no one is supreme and immune to the consequences of one’s actions and violations.
The governor must face the consequences, he added.
“We spent hours reviewing the evidence and interviewing witnesses to address these serious concerns because it is a responsibility of each one of us in this Legislature to uphold the check and balance which are integral parts of our democracy,” Manglona said.
“While people are being disconnected [for an unpaid utility] bill, the governor was living lavishly by getting his utilities paid for by taxpayers in excess of $15,000 a month and this is just one month out of many.
“While the people are being furloughed the governor was taking several trips with even one trip that can fund a salary of one employee for an entire year. How can we turn a blind eye to these excessive abuse of government resources that are meant to support our people? It is our duty as elected officials and not just as members of this committee to address the concerns from our constituents.”
“We asked the governor to come to give us the truth but where is he? He continues to hide, deflect and cause delays to distract the people instead of answering questions that provide clarity or reveal a concern that needs to be addressed. If he has truly nothing to hide, why is it difficult for him to stand before this body, before the people of this great Commonwealth to clear his name?”
Addressing Governor Torres, Rep. Richard Lizama said: “You could have asked to meet with us but most of the time you ignored us. And this morning, you went on air saying you wanted to meet with the chairwoman and you feel like you were getting an unfair treatment and unlawful political hearing. Governor, why aren’t you here now? The people of the Commonwealth want to hear you.”
Rep. Vicente Camacho said “we are finally towards the end of the investigation and I believe that what the JGO committee has done is for public purpose. The JGO committee has maintained its composure and its members stood their ground despite the resistance.”
He said there is “no animosity, no witch-hunting and no political vendetta” on the part of the JGO committee.
He said the investigation and the hearings aim to prevent and publicly address fraud, waste and abuse within the government.
Bravado
Rep. Edwin Propst said he was disappointed that the governor chose not to appear before the committee after a display of “bravado, all the machismo, all the talk, all the chest pumping that he has nothing to hide, and saying that ‘they haven’t called me.’ ”
He said the committee was very generous and understanding, and the chairwoman and the members have been kind and civil to everyone that showed up.
Some have said that “it’s taking too long, as if somehow, someway, the committee was at fault for doing the people’s work,” Propst said.
“But the stalling, the gamesmanship, the different tactics that were used [came from] the governor,” he said.
He added that witnesses were told that they were not the subject of the investigation, yet each of them would come with an attorney.
“Of course it is their right, but it is as if we were trying to go after them when that was not the case.
“In fact, from my recollection, the only witness that appeared without an attorney was Lt. Gov. Arnold Palacios who came and spoke from his heart and spoke the truth. If every single witness had done that, this would have been expedient and probably a lot faster. But it was dragged on for different reasons not attributed to this committee.
“I am frustrated, I am tired of doublespeak, and this body has done its very best to get to the truth out of all these matters. Madam chair, colleagues, counsel, legislative assistants, I almost feel like we were underdogs because we lack…the resources that governor has. But when you are doing the people’s work, I don’t feel we are the underdogs. I feel we’re doing the work of the people and we will continue to do so together,” Propst said.
Rep. Celina R. Babauta presides over a meeting of the House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations in the House chamber Tuesday.
