THE House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee hearing on Gov. Ralph DLG Torres continued on Thursday with Department of Public Safety Police Sgt. Flora Aguon answering questions about the governor’s off-island travels.
Aguon was member of the protective security detail for first lady Diann T. Torres in 2017.
She told the committee she traveled with the governor and the first lady to the U.S. in that year.
The committee showed her copies of travel authorizations, receipts and requests for reimbursement, but because four years have since passed, she could only remember some of the details of the off-island trips of the governor and the first lady.
Present during the hearing were the committee chair, Rep. Celina Babauta, the vice chairman, Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao, and Reps. Edwin Propst, Donald Manglona, Vicente Camacho, Richard Lizama and Tina Sablan who appeared via videoconference.
Babauta said her committee was looking into the personal and political activities that the governor may have conducted while on taxpayer-paid travels on first class and business class to the U.S. and Guam.
She said the committee is also looking into “tens of thousands in unallowable costs, including travel expenditures for non-government employees, sponsorships for sports teams, and personal or political expenses, as well reimbursements for some purchases that appear to be personal expenses or are otherwise unaccounted for.”
Asked if she was told to sign a non-disclosure agreement before appearing in the hearing, Sgt. Aguon said no.
She said it was DPS Commissioner Robert Guerrero who provided her with the opportunity to serve as protective security detail or PSD, for which she attended training on Saipan, conducted by experts from Guam Police Department.
She said as PSD, she drove the first lady using a government vehicle for official and non-official meetings in the CNMI, including when the first lady had to attend a wedding.
She said she also dropped and picked up the governor’s children at school.
Asked if she accompanied the first lady for personal shopping, Sgt. Aguon said no.
As for personal errands, she said she doesn’t recall. She also couldn’t recall if she had accompanied the first lady on boat trips, political gatherings or functions hosted by Imperial Pacific International.
But she remembered signing receipts when she had to “gas up” the government vehicle she used for the first lady, but she couldn’t recall how those gas expenses were paid.
Rep. Richard Lizama asked her about the travel authorizations to Washington D.C. from Jan. 16, 2017 to Jan. 27, 2017 when the governor met with the transition team for then-President-elect Donald Trump.
For that trip, Lizama said, the governor spent $7,932.50 on him and the first lady. Lizama said the governor and the first lady also made a “personal stop” in Boise, Idaho.
Asked who ordered her to go on this trip, Sgt. Aguon said it was her supervisor at that time, Joey Cruz.
But she couldn’t remember who else traveled with the governor and first lady. She also couldn’t remember if the travels were first class or business class.
She said she could only remember some of the events that the first lady attended during those trips.
She said she went with the governor and the first lady to Boise because it was her duty and responsibility to provide security for the first lady. But she could not remember if there was any official event that took place during the governor’s trip to Boise.
“So it was a vacation?” Lizama asked.
“I don’t know, sir,” Sgt. Aguon answered.
Asked if, in her opinion as a member of a protective security detail and as a police officer for 11 years, if it was necessary to spend taxpayer money on that trip to Boise, Aguon said, “I was basically providing security. That was all I was doing.”
Asked by Rep. Celina Babauta how many times she went with the first lady on off-island travels, Sgt. Aguon said three times.
“So with only three trips, you don’t recall some of the details?” Babauta asked.
“With due respect, ma’am, it has been years [since those trips],” she answered.
Saying that in one of his first-class travels, the governor spent and was reimbursed more than $23,000, Rep. Edwin Propst asked Sgt. Aguon who directed her to go on this trip. She said it was her supervisor, Joey Cruz.
This trip, Propst said, was to Montana to attend a meeting with U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
When asked about it, Sgt. Aguon said she couldn’t remember if the first lady attended the meeting. She also couldn’t remember attending a dinner party that the governor hosted in Montana.
Rep. Donald Manglona said on Aug. 29 2017, the governor issued a reimbursement memorandum to then-Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson for expenses at Still Water Oyster Bar in Montana where the governor ordered, among other things, oysters, calamari, salmon, king crab and alcoholic drinks.
“Do you recall this party?” Manglona asked.
“No,” Sgt. Aguon said, adding that she remembers some activities in Montana, but “I don’t recall everything.”
Rep. Tina Sablan asked Aguon if there was an actual threat to the life of the governor or the first lady during their personal stop in Boise.
The police sergeant said, “Not to my knowledge.”
Sgt. Aguon also said she doesn’t know anything about the sporting goods for which the governor was reimbursed, according to Propst.
Rep. Babauta then dismissed Aguon, and thanked her for the 11 years and nine months of her service as police officer. The committee chairwoman also thanked Aguon’s legal counsel, Anthony Aguon.
Today, Friday, at 10:30 a.m., the JGO will hear the testimony of another police officer, Janeeka Atalig, and the governor’s chief of staff, Wil Castro.
Police Sgt. Flora Aguon appears before the House Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee with her lawyer, Anthony Aguon, Thursday in the House chamber.
