Osborne: Gala was no fundraiser

CNMI Washington Office director Jason Osborne clarified that the 2017 Asian Pacific American Presidential Inaugural Gala was not a fundraiser or an event for any political action committee or group. Instead, it was their way of celebrating the GOP reclaiming the White House with the victory of then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump.

Osborne, in an interview with the Saipan Tribune yesterday, said that he was not directly involved in the preparations for the event and was only added to the organizing committee at the last minute.

“My only job there, since I work for Gov. [Ralph DLG] Torres, was to take care of the CNMI side for the event. Just like how Juan Carlos Benitez did for Guam or Rep. Amata Radewagen does for American Samoa,” he said.

A story published by the Palm Beach Post said that thousands of dollars were donated and raised at the gala, yet the money collected allegedly had no paper trail and now could not be accounted for. Osborne insists that not a cent of the money raised went to any political action committee, or PAC. “Except for the expenses that were incurred for the event, the sponsors that we got, the listed companies in the banner, paid for the event. The Palm Beach Post story is inaccurate on many levels.”

“It [the gala] was our way of celebrating amongst ourselves after the campaign and victory. We invited members of [U.S.] Congress—representatives and senators—and people who we were then expecting to be part of the administration when Trump was sworn in. The South Asian, Filipinos, Chamorro—CNMI and Guam—and Japanese communities go on stage, thank their supporters, give a few words, then introduce their performers; then the next group comes in.”

The sponsorship packages for the APA Presidential gala were divided into Presidential ($25,000), Platinum ($10,000), Gold ($5,000), and Elite ($2,500).

Osborne said that a staff from the Post called him to ask for comments on the involvement of Cindy Yang, the Chinese-American businesswoman who allegedly gained entry to the Trump -owned Mar-A-Lago resort with spy software with her.

“I have nothing to do with that. I never met that lady. I have no interest and, if she was there, I didn’t even know. I would have no idea, just like Gov. [Ralph DLG] Torres. That’s why I didn’t talk to her [Post staff]. Then I read the article, what the hell is this? This is not what happened in that event. It made it seem scandalous and it was ridiculous. The money that was raised was spent for the event. Our concern was the hotel bill was paid for, which it was. We knew that our sponsors had given money directly to the vendors,” said Osborne.

“There was no money raised for future political actions. This was one thing that we want to make sure of. This was a one-and-done event. We saw it, from our own standpoint, like an islandwide pocket meeting, where Precinct 1 is in charge of rice, Precinct 2 water, Precinct 3 chicken, and so forth. We were responsible for making sure the venue—Mayflower Hotel—was paid. That in a nutshell is the story; it is a non-story. It is disappointing the reporter tried to tie in other things such as NMI U.S. Workforce Act of 2018 as being somehow connected. It wasn’t, the event was to celebrate the [Trump] inauguration.”