The House Special Committee Federal Assistance & Disaster-Related Funding conducts a meeting in the House chamber on Monday.
THE House Special Committee Federal Assistance & Disaster-Related Funding on Monday unanimously found former BOOST contractors Robert Travilla and Salina Sapp in contempt for lying under oath.
Specifically, Travilla and Sapp were found in contempt for their failure to provide documents related to BOOST, and for perjuring themselves regarding the existence of BOOST-related WhatsApp messages between them and former Office of the Governor Chief of Staff Wil Castro.
Sapp and Travilla are president and vice president of Nonstop Corporation, a marketing firm that the administration of then-Gov. Ralph DLG Torres contracted for a total of $323,415.29 to promote the $17 million, federally funded Building Optimism, Opportunities and Stability Together program.
On Friday, the panel found Sapp and Travilla in contempt for refusing to answer questions regarding BOOST. Another former BOOST contractor, Shayne Villanueva of Roil Soil Marketing, was found in contempt for also refusing to answer BOOST-related questions when he appeared before the panel on Tuesday last week.
On Monday, Rep. Marissa Flores said Sapp and Travilla failed to answer questions that were “not incriminating” and were preliminary in nature, so their failure to respond in a reasonable manner violates 1 CMC 1306 (a).
Flores also noted that the subpoenas issued to Sapp and Travilla requested the production of the following:
1) Records related to the BOOST program including but not limited to all contracts, invoices and related documents related to BOOST, including but not limited to administration, marketing, advertising, event planning or other aspects of the program.
2) Any and all documents, records and communications including but not limited to electronic emails, and text messages, other communications from June 1, 2022, to the present regarding businesses or individuals and/or any other BOOST-related business.
Flores said failure to provide the documents in a reasonable manner violates 1 CMC 1306 (a).
She said at the committee meeting on March 7 and 8, 2024, Travilla and Sapp testified under oath that they had submitted all relevant documents.
They had not in fact submitted all relevant documents, Flores said, referring to a copy of BOOST-related WhatsApp messages from a WhatsApp chat group created by Travilla.
Not only did Travilla and Sapp perjure themselves by lying under oath regarding the existence of BOOST-related messages, they were also in contempt for their failure to provide or even inform the committee of the existence of these relevant communications, Flores said.
She moved that the special committee ask Speaker Edmund Villagomez to certify the statement of contempt regarding Travilla and Sapp to the attorney general for further prosecution in the court of law for each of the three contempt findings.
In an interview after the hearing, the special committee chairman, Rep. Ralph N. Yumul, said Travilla on Thursday offered to provide information behind closed doors but with certain conditions.
Yumul said they, the committee members, “were under the assumption” that Travilla and Sapp were going say something.”
However, Yumul said, the special committee could not agree with the conditions set by Travilla and Sapp. Yumul did not elaborate.
Today, Tuesday, the special committee will ask former Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig BOOST-related questions.
