“This is not right. This is politically motivated,” he said. “I was very disappointed with the way I was treated. They allowed my driver to continue driving for me for nine months without telling me about this. What if people dealing with my driver just decided to terminate me?”
The governor’s driver-bodyguard, Pete Reyes, was indicted last week in federal court for “ice” trafficking using the governor’s government-issued vehicle.
Fitial was still in Washington, D.C. when the indictment was announced.
He said he called his driver and confronted him about it but Reyes denied the accusations and claimed that he was being framed up.
Fitial said the court will determine Reyes’ guilt but he is taking an issue with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“They don’t like me,” he added.
He said although the issue involves a criminal investigation, he expects federal authorities to give him the courtesy of being informed about it for safety reasons.
Had he known about it, Fitial said, “I would have acted responsibly.”
“This is politically motivated,” he reiterated. “This happened before the election.”
The DEA’s relationship with the Fitial administration soured after a group of Chinese tourists aboard the inaugural flight of the Shanghai-Saipan route last year complained they were stripped-searched upon their arrival at the Saipan airport.
The DEA was apparently acting on a tip that drugs would be sneaked into Saipan.
No drugs, however, were found during the search.
Fitial suspended the joint DEA-CNMI anti-drug task force following the incident.
