Impeachment committee unanimously sends impeachment resolution to the full House

Gov. Ralph Torres likely will be impeached by the CNMI House of Representatives by the time January ends. On its first day and within the first hour of its first meeting, the special committee appointed by Speaker Edmund Villagomez to recommend whether to impeach the governor voted unanimously to move articles of impeachment to the full House for debate and vote.

Voting in favor of the motion by Rep. Leila Staffler included Mr. Torres’s previous chief of staff, Rep. Angel Demapan, and three more of the governor’s once-closest allies: Reps. Joseph Flores, Leepan Guerrero, and Patrick San Nicolas. Also voting for the motion were Reps. Tina Sablan, Corina Magofna, and Donald Manglona. Vice Speaker Blas Jonathan Attao, who chairs the committee and was not called to vote under the rules of the committee, said if he could vote, he would have voted in favor of the motion.

The vote now places the question of whether to impeach the governor in the hands of all 20 members of the House, at least 15 of whom already have signaled support. That is more than the two-thirds majority needed to impeach a sitting governor, according to the CNMI Constitution. A report will be compiled by the committee and sent to the speaker, who will decide when to call the House into session. Sources within the legislature tell Kandit that report will be sent immediately, and that the speaker may call the members into session as early as next week.

The articles of impeachment – contained within House Resolution 22-14 and authored by Rep. Celina Babauta and most of the members of the House – allege the governor committed multiple counts of six impeachable charges (offenses). These range from theft to corruption and contempt of the legislature. If the House impeaches the governor, the CNMI Senate will prepare for and hold a trial, where the nine senators act as jurors. If, following the trial, Mr. Torres is convicted on any of the six articles of impeachment, he will be removed automatically from office and barred from holding any future elective office. Six of the nine senators must vote to convict him in order for him to be removed.

“They could’ve brought in more witnesses, amended the resolution but today, the Special Committee decided unanimously to move the resolution to the full Committee,” Ms. Babauta, who has been at the forefront of the effort to remove the governor from office, said. “All are in favor of acting on the resolution. It speaks to the diligent and meticulous task of the JGO and their findings in the resolution. The Speaker appointed a separate and bipartisan Committee to review the resolution and today they acted in accordance with their belief that the JGO did their duty and it is time for the whole house to act.” Ms. Babauta chairs the Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee, which led the extensive investigation into allegations Mr. Torres broke several laws when he indulged himself with illegal travel, use of public resources, fine dining, the purchase of personal items, and the misrepresentation of official business all on the taxpayer dime.

Prior to the committee’s vote, Mr. Attao allowed for public input. Fabian Indalecio, a vocal critic against the Torres administration, implored the members to put away their politics and vote to impeach the governor.”Do what is for the people, not for the politics,” Mr. Indalecio exclaimed.

Nathan Elliott said he was speaking up in hopes the legislature removes the governor from office, or the governor resigns.

“I should not be paying his electric bill,” Mr. Elliott told the committee members. “He’s taking from the people and not representing the people! This governor, it’s all about him. It shouldn’t be that way.”

Watch this historic vote by the special committee, preceded by the motion by Ms. Staffler and a rousing speech by Ms. Sablan in the video below: