‘Why is Pai silent about illegal release of report?’

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and Attorney General Edward Buckingham expressed concern yesterday that Public Auditor Michael Pai, who they said has a duty to maintain confidentiality, is silent about the unauthorized release of a confidential Office of the Public Auditor report on the attorney general.

Fitial and Buckingham said only the governor has the legal authority to release the confidential report, and whoever leaked the report broke the law.

“The governor has not released this report. Releasing this report is unlawful. I would expect that Mr. Pai, as the person who has legal responsibility to prepare a report and collect it, would be concerned. I am, and I assume the governor is concerned by his silence, in not expressing concern about the unauthorized release of this report,” Buckingham told Saipan Tribune.

At the same time, House Judiciary and Government Operations Committee chair Rep. Ralph Demapan (Cov-Saipan) wrote a letter yesterday afternoon to the public auditor, asking him to verify the authenticity of the OPA report that was leaked.

Demapan, in a phone interview, said he would also like to know whether OPA can officially release a copy of the report to the Legislature.

Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan), also a JGO Committee member, said he agrees with Demapan’s letter to verify the OPA report.

The leaked December 2010 OPA investigation report, which Fitial has not released, concluded that Buckingham’s actions “violated criminal prohibitions” of both the Commonwealth Ethics Code Act and the Commonwealth Election Act when he hosted a campaign party for then delegate candidate Joseph N. Camacho at the governor’s house in Gualo Rai on Aug. 28, 2010.

Buckingham said “in terms of the substance of the report, it’s not appropriate to comment, and it’s not appropriate even to confirm or disconfirm that what was released is accurate.”

“It is legally privileged, it is legally confidential, and it is not a subject for public discussion,” the attorney general said.

Fitial referred questions about the leaked OPA report to the attorney general, seated beside him after the governor administered the oath of office for the four Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. board members on Capital Hill yesterday morning.

“Under the law, the public auditor has power to investigate and the auditor has the duty to maintain confidentiality. The governor didn’t authorize release of this information. So was it in possession of the governor or auditor? I haven’t heard Mr. Pai express concern about the release of this information improperly. Why don’t you ask Mr. Pai what he’s doing?” Buckingham said.

Pai has been off island because of an emergency in the family. He has yet to respond to requests for comments since last week.

Fitial said it was only yesterday that he became aware of the unauthorized release of the OPA report because he was in China when it happened last week. That’s why he said he was meeting with Buckingham yesterday.

“I was not aware of it until now because I was in China when somebody allowed [Harry] Houdini to go inside the AG’s Office to get the OPA report,” he said.

Fitial said there was an agreement that that OPA report will not be disclosed.

In several interviews since last year, Fitial said he didn’t necessarily agree with the OPA report and findings.

When asked whether it would be more important to discuss how the OPA report was leaked rather than the findings of the OPA report, Buckingham said: “I’m saying when something is legally confidential, it is not appropriate for public comment.”

The attorney general cited as an example obtaining a report on a rape victim.

“And it’s not legally permissible to disclose the information. As the press, you still have the duty to keep the confidentiality of the rape victim. Same thing is true here. This is legally confidential, it should not be disclosed, it should not be discussed,” he said.

Fitial questioned why he’s being asked to comment on something released illegally to the public.

The governor, when asked what the administration intends to do now that the report has been leaked, said, “You should ask the person who leaked that information to you.”

Buckingham reiterated that the anonymous person who leaked the report doesn’t have the legal authority to release information.

“Mr. Pai has a duty to maintain confidentiality. Again, ask Mr. Pai what his comment is on the unauthorized release apparently of information that is legally confidential,” he added.

A copy of the 14-page OPA report and a two-page accompanying letter was leaked to the media and some members of the general public late Tuesday night last week. The report was from an anonymous individual who used the email address spnwikileaks@hushmail.com to leak the report.

The Fitial administration, OPA, and the Office of the Attorney General have not released the Dec. 13, 2010, report to the public, citing statutory restrictions.