Attao declines to serve as House impeachment prosecutor

House of Representatives vice speaker Rep. Blas Jonathan T. Attao (R-Saipan) said yesterday that he is unable to accept or decline to file an appearance as House impeachment prosecutor in the Senate trial of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.

In a letter to Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider (Ind-Saipan), Attao said that, in sending him a notice to file an appearance as the House impeachment prosecutor, it appears that Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors (R-Tinian) has attempted to serve him the notice in his capacity as chairman of the House Special Impeachment Committee. He said that King-Nabors, who is the Senate Committee on the Impeachment Hearing chairman, served him the notice “at the time the impeachment vote was voted on and passed.”

By that time, though, Attao said, the House had already adopted the Articles of Impeachment, the House Impeachment Committee no longer existed, and that he ceased to be its chairman.

Attao

Even then, if he were in a position to serve as the impeachment prosecutor, Attao said he hereby declines.

King-Nabors had said Friday that, pursuant to Senate Impeachment Rule 7, if the House speaker declines to serve as the impeachment prosecutor, then the chairperson of the House committee at the time the impeachment was voted and passed shall serve as the impeachment prosecutor.

Attao was the chairman of the House Impeachment Committee when the House passed House Resolution 22-14 that impeached Torres for alleged commission of felonies, corruption, and neglect of duty.

Last Thursday, House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) declined to file a notice of appearance as the House impeachment prosecutor. Villagomez said that several House members, to include Attao, Reps. Celina R. Babauta (D-Saipan), Donald Manglona (Ind-Rota), Corina Magofna (D-Saipan), and Leila Staffler (D-Saipan) have been preparing as a team to prosecute together the impeachment case against Torres, and bring this matter diligently and expeditiously before the Senate.

In an order last Friday, King-Nabors told Attao to file and enter an appearance as the House impeachment prosecutor. If he fails to do so on or before yesterday, Senate President Jude Hofschneider shall select a House member to serve as impeachment prosecutor, pursuant to Senate Impeachment Rule 7.

In his letter to Hofschneider yesterday, Attao said King-Nabors “must not have read the rules or does not comprehend them” because he sent the notice to the former chairman (Attao) of a non-existent House committee.

“Therefore, his notice, like his comprehension of applicable House rules, amounts to nothing,” the vice speaker said, further describing it as a senatorial “over-reach.”

Attao noted that Villagomez has the sole power to issue orders to House members and that, as a Senate member, King-Nabors lacks any authority over House members.

Second, he said, justice demands that the House appoint its own impeachment prosecutor.

Third, Attao said, the Senate Impeachment Rules also violate Article 2 Section 17 subsection c to the extent that the rules were the product of legal assistance from outside the Legislative Bureau.

He said it is beyond dispute that Joey McDoulett is neither employed nor contracted by the Legislative Bureau yet he provided legal assistance to the Senate during an official session and its joint committee meeting. Because McDoulett had a significant role in drafting the Senate rules, that makes these rules unconstitutional, he added.

Finally, he said in his letter Friday, King-Nabors disclosed that “at his behest” Viola Alepuyo also provided “unconstitutional” legal services to the Senate.

Attao said Alepuyo also served “at the behest” of Torres. He said Alepuyo served as president of “Friends of Ralph,” the fundraising committee to elect Torres, since 2017.

Attao said Alepuyo may wear many hats, but she does not wear the hat of the Legislative Bureau legal counsel.

“The governor’s army of attorneys, nearly in the double digits, do not appear to be confident in their capacity to win legal arguments on a level playing field if they feel the need to rig the table so brazenly,” Attao said.