WATCH: Tina Sablan grills Taisague about his “room for improvement”

There is always room for improvement: a new catch phrase in the Mariana Islands for testifying before the legislature in a corruption investigation. Watch Rep. Tina Sablan’s interrogation of the CNMI Department of Commerce’s Jesus “Jess” Taisague Tuesday afternoon. Ms. Sablan, clearly frustrated by Mr. Taisague’s evasion of the committee’s direct questions, honed in on the Torres-Sablan campaign official’s inconsistent and evasive statements.

In his testimony during this portion of the interrogation, Mr. Taisague admitted to something previous testifiers denied: That there was a rubric the panelists, including himself, used to decide who would get what amounts of money under the federally-funded Building Optimism and Opportunities for Stability (BOOST) grant program. Former Guam republican Sen. Wil Castro, another panelist and the governor’s chief of staff, said there was no written process.

Here is a transcript of an excerpt of this clip:

SABLAN: Would it have improved the fairness of this program to have a record of your evaluations?

TAISAGUE: There’s always room for improvement.

SABLAN: Is that a ‘yes,’ or a ‘no?’

TAISAGUE: There is always room for improvement.

SABLAN: Would it have improved the fairness of this program to have announced caps on the maximum awards that people could apply for?

TAISAGUE: There’s always room for improvement.

SABLAN: Is that a ‘yes,’ or a ‘no,’ sir?

CELINA BABAUTA: Yes or no, Mr. Taisague. It’s a yes or no question.

TAISAGUE: There’s always room for improvement.

SABLAN: Would it have improved the fairness of this program to be clear with the public about the actual amount of money available?

TAISAGUE: There is always room for improvement.

SABLAN: Would it have improved the fairness of this program to establish limits on how many awards could be given to the same person?

TAISAGUE: There will always be room for improvement.

SABLAN: Would it have improved the fairness of this program… (Taisague cuts her off)

TAISAGUE: There will always be room for improvement.

SABLAN: …to be clear about the actual amount of money available… (Taisague cuts her off again)

TAISAGUE: There will always be room for improvement.

Watch this clip for what was among the more tense segments of the hearing thus far.

Rep. Celina Roberto Babauta, co-chair of the joint investigative committee, continuously instructed Mr. Taisague to answer the questions.

She also threatened to hold him in contempt for his refusal to answer questions.