SENATE President Jude U. Hofschneider on Thursday gave the Senate Committees on Judiciary, Government, Law and Federal Relations, and Executive Appointments and Government Investigations 14 calendar days to come up with the rules for the impeachment trial of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.
Hofschneider has referred to the two committees House Resolution 22-14 which calls for the governor’s impeachment on felony, corruption, and neglect of duty charges. The governor has denied the allegations.
Sen. Karl King-Nabors chairs the Judiciary, Government, Law and Federal Relations Committee while Sen. Frank Cruz chairs the Executive Appointments and Government Investigations Committee.
They will co-chair the joint committee tasked to promulgate the impeachment trial rules.
During the Senate session on Thursday, the Senate president also said that he will assign additional members to the joint committee soon.
For his part, Sen. Paul A. Manglona urged his colleagues to immediately act on H.R. 22-14 and consider Senate Resolution 22-14 which he and fellow minority bloc senator, Edith Deleon Guerrero, introduced. S.R. 22-14 proposes to adopt the rules prepared by the Senate for the impeachment trial of then-Gov. Benigno R. Fitial in February 2013. Fitial resigned before the Senate could hold a trial.
“Let’s amend it if we have to but please let us not delay any further action,” Manglona said, referring to S.R. 22-14.
He said the proposed rules would prohibit any senator from having an ex parte communication with the governor, his staff or his lawyers
Ex parte in legal ethics “refers to improper contact with a party or a judge. Ethical rules typically forbid a lawyer from contacting the judge or the opposing party without the other party’s lawyer also being present.”
The CNMI’s most senior lawmaker who was first elected in 1987, Manglona said their “utmost concern is getting back to our legislative business of addressing the CNMI’s financial challenges, and work for the recovery of our economy.”
He added, “I humbly ask that let’s moved on with this impeachment without delay. The sooner we put this impeachment hearing behind us, the sooner we can get back to doing our work including passing a truly balanced budget that fairly allocates the CNMI’s financial resources including the American Rescue Plan Act funding.”
Jude Hofschneider
