Gov. Benigno R. Fitial retained Jenner & Block in June.
Rep. Tina Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, separately requested the Offce of the Attorney General and the Department of Finance to release pertinent documents about the lawsuit.
But both agencies have turned down her request, saying the lawsuit is exempted from the Open Government Act.
“I am disappointed, but not surprised, by the secretary of Finance’s refusal to disclose basic information about how taxpayer funds are being spent for a lawsuit that has been filed by the governor on behalf of the entire commonwealth,” said Sablan in a statement to the media.
“The secretary, like the acting attorney general, says the records will be made open to disclosure once the lawsuit is concluded. I continue to believe that those records should be open for public inspection now, as public funds are being spent. The administration’s claims of exemption from the Open Government Act hold no water in this case, and I see no other choice at this point but to appeal to the courts for resolution,” she added.
Inos told Sablan that the documents identifying funding sources and contracts between the CNMI and outside litigation counsel are exempted from public disclosure.
The governor earlier told the Legislature that he needs at least $400,000, or $50,000 a month, to pay Jenner & Block.
According to Sablan, the OAG claims that the records she is requesting are not covered by the Open Government Act “because they are related to a pending controversy and would not be discoverable by the United States.”
“In other words,” she added, “the United States should not be allowed to discover how much the CNMI has budgeted for this lawsuit, because having such information could be disadvantageous to the CNMI. However, as many have pointed out, the administration has already publicly estimated a budget of $400,000 for the lawsuit, and it is certainly no secret at all that the CNMI is in a serious financial crunch.”
Sablan said “there was ambiguity about whether or not the Open Government Act would apply with respect to my request, and the administration, under the advice of the acting AG, has chosen not to liberally construe the law, and not to err on the side of openness and transparency, but rather on the side of secrecy.”
