Public auditor breaks silence on OPA investigation of AG, lawsuit

Public auditor Michael Pai described the complaint filed by attorney general Edward Buckingham as “the latest of what appears to be a series of attempts by the AG to disrupt OPA’s access to legal counsel and to challenge its autonomy.”

Buckingham filed a lawsuit against Pai on June 13 over the Office of the Public Auditor’s hiring of two lawyers.

One of the lawyers, Joseph John Przyuski, was the lead OPA investigator in the complaints filed against Buckingham’s campaign-related activities in 2010.

But Pai said he has also just received the AG complaint.

“We just started analyzing it. As such, we cannot comment on its merits at this time,” Pai said in a response to Saipan Tribune’s e-mail questions.

But Pai, in responding to other questions, said in January and February 2011, the AG made inquiries with the CNMI Bar Association and the CNMI Supreme Court “seeking unsuccessfully to find that Joe Przyuski was not a bar member in good standing.”

The CNMI Bar Association’s website lists Przyuski as an “active member.”

The list is available at http://www.cnmibar.net/members.asp.

Pai said in April 2011, the AG conducted a review of two of OPA’s legal counsel contracts.

“OPA responded to the April inquiry explaining its contracting practices and justifying its actions. Now comes a lawsuit regarding the same two contracts. One can only ponder where this is all leading to. It is troubling that the Office of the Attorney General is focusing so many resources on OPA’s internal matters, when there are so many worthy matters needing attention,” the public auditor said.

As of June 30, 2010, OPA referred audit recommendations in seven audit reports to the OAG for legal action to recover monies improperly expended.

Based on these seven audit reports, some $2.6 million is potentially recoverable.

“The [OAG] did not provide OPA an update on these referral cases during OPA’s follow-up process, therefore, the status of these referrals remains unchanged,” OPA said in the latest report on CNMI agencies’ implementation of audit recommendations as of June 30, 2010.

OPA investigated complaints filed with OPA regarding Buckingham’s alleged hosting of a gathering for the campaign of then Covenant Party delegate candidate Joseph Camacho.

The gathering was held at Gov. Benigno R. Fitial’s private residence in Gualo Rai on Aug. 28, 2010.

The governor, in an interview on Friday night, said OPA’s report on the investigation it conducted on Buckingham’s presence at the gathering indicated that Buckingham violated the law.

But Fitial said Buckingham did not violate any law.

The governor said he need not release the OPA report, released in December.

“Buckingham did not violate any law. The report says that he violated. So I proved that he did not violate,” Fitial said.

When asked by Saipan Tribune how the governor arrived at the conclusion that the AG did not violate any law, the governor responded: “Because there’s no law barring what Buckingham did.”

This, he said, was contained in his response to the OPA report.

He said OPA responded back.

“Very, very disrespectful,” Fitial said, when asked about OPA’s response.

He declined to elaborate.

The Fitial administration and OPA repeatedly declined to release a copy of the report or at least portions of the report.

“I don’t want to elaborate but I just want to say this. OPA thinks that, you know, that they are god,” Fitial said.

The governor told the media not to mix the AG lawsuit against the public auditor, and the OPA investigation on the AG.

“Like I said, there’s no law that bars the attorney general from doing what he did but there is law prohibiting violation of the acts committed by certain staffers from (OPA),” Fitial said, adding that the lawsuit should not be discussed.

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan said on Friday that if the AG did not do anything wrong, he should release the OPA report.

Private citizen Glen Hunter also called on for the release of the OPA report.

Both Sablan and Hunter were among the individuals who filed a complaint with OPA against Buckingham’s hosting of a campaign gathering for a delegate candidate.

“It would not surprise me if the lawsuit filed against the OPA in regards to Joe Pryzuski’s contract was a retaliatory action against them for the report that was issued regarding Buckingham’s hosting of a political gathering during the last election. I was one of many who filed complaints with the OPA to investigate the matter. It is public knowledge that a report with recommendations was given to the Governor in December of 2010,” Hunter said.

Buckingham hired Atty. G Anthony Long for $200 an hour to represent him in his official and personal capacity in connection with an OPA investigation of the AG’s hosting of a party for a delegate candidate.

Long billed the CNMI government $12,940 for that representation which ended in February, said press secretary Angel Demapan.

Hunter said there are numerous questionable contracts that the OAG has either approved or ignored, and the most ironic of all is a sole-sourced contract for personal defense representation for Buckingham related to OPA’s probe on the AG’s actions.