‘Post story downplays the CNMI’s own efforts’

A Palm Beach Post story about a presidential gala for President Donald Trump—which Washington, D.C. lobbyist Jason Osborne described as “grossly inaccurate”—not only appears to downplay the combined efforts of CNMI officials in making known the issues that are happening in the Commonwealth, but also how laws and regulations imposed by the federal government from thousands of miles away affect the everyday lives of people on the islands.

Osborne said that stories like these—“and the way they are written—”kind of takes away the work that the CNMI had done over the last several years to try and improve its image.”

He also denied that the Asian Pacific American Presidential Inaugural Gala allegedly raised $107 million, which the Post story said, allegedly ended up untraced.

He said the Post article’s story on the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act “makes it sound like we’re just fighting for foreign workers to come in, when they have no concept of what we’re doing to try and build our U.S. workforce.” That law provided work slots for foreign workers in the CNMI.

He said that the gala only raised $100,000 and had nothing to do with the presidential inaugural activities. “The Presidential Inaugural may have raised that amount but not this [Asia-Pacific gala] event.”

“I’m very disappointed in the lack of honesty in the reporting. Getting attacks by folks that have no clue on how hard we worked in [D.C.] on behalf of the CNMI is another example why I seldom talk to the press,” he said.

He added that Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), who also pushed for the Workforce Act in the U.S. Congress, should also be upset about the story. “That reporter put the story out there and…quite frankly, if I’m Kilili, I might also be upset about this article.”

“He [Kilili] also worked hard on that Workforce Act and this lady makes it sound like, just because we had this event, we got this Workforce Act signed by President Trump. That’s not the reality at all.”

Osborne also stressed that he did not take any money from the event or even from the organizers. “I looked at the event as an opportunity for the CNMI to celebrate all the hard work they put into getting the story of the [Commonwealth] into the presidential campaign. Making this out to be salacious is wrong.

“I find it bizarre how someone could say that because I worked for the governor [Gov. Ralph DLG Torres] and the business community that I don’t have the best interests of the CNMI at heart. That would imply that either the governor is wrong or the business community is wrong.”

He added that all of his clients are on record and open for scrutiny. “All of my clients are public information. So, those that say otherwise are somewhat foolish.”