Sablan: No ethics violation in voting for Torres’ impeachment

Rep. Christina E. Sablan (D-Saipan), who is the NMI Democratic Party’s candidate for governor in the Nov. 8 election, said Wednesday she firmly believes she did not violate the House of Representatives’ Ethics Rules when she participated in the impeachment process and in voting for the impeachment of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres. Torres is seeking re-election under the NMI Republican Party.

Responding to Torres’ assertion in his motion to dismiss the Articles of Impeachment where he cited Sablan several times about her alleged violation of Ethics Rules, Sablan said she is a member of the Legislature and that her participation in the investigation and impeachment of Torres began long before she decided to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for her to run as governor. Sablan was also one of the 15 House members who voted for the impeachment of the governor.

“I have a job to do. I take that job seriously,” she said during a news briefing at the House of Representatives that was also attended by the House leadership bloc.

Sablan

Sablan said that prior to the impeachment vote, she consulted with multiple attorneys—the House’s counsel as well as outside counsels. Sablan said the counsels reviewed the House Ethics Rules as well as the Ethics Code to see if there was an impermissible conflict that would bar her from continuing to participate in that process.

“And the answer was no,” she said.

Sablan noted that there is a precedent for other legislators, other members of legislative bodies who are running for executive office also voting in impeachment proceedings. She cited as example the recent impeachment of former President Donald Trump.

“So I am firm in my belief that I voted well within the Ethics Rules. I had a job to do, a constitutional responsibility, and I have done that job,” she said.

At the same news briefing in the House’s chamber, House Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) said what they’re trying to do is not much. Villagomez, who earlier declined the Senate’s selection of him as chief prosecutor, has requested Senate president Jude U. Hofschneider not to select one House prosecutor but a prosecutorial team of five representatives.

“This is not about whether the governor gets removed or not, but it’s also about protecting the process and also providing the CNMI people with a fair trial, protecting them from officials that may abuse their power and their position,” he said.

Villagomez said that Hofschneider was the Senate president back in 2013 when then-governor Benigno Fitial was impeached.

Villagomez said there were rules drafted and that those rules seem fairer in terms of providing a fair trial at the Senate. “What we are asking for….is untie our hands a little bit more so we can go through the process more fairly,” he said.

Villagomez said one of the remedies is one more push so that they can get the team that he has listed to be prosecutors.

“That’s the remedy for now. And we’ll see how it goes from there. And we’ll further discuss what’s the next steps after that,” he said.

The speaker said it is possible for the Senate to go ahead and proceed with the impeachment trial without a prosecutor or a team of prosecutors from the House.

“There’s really not much we can do to prevent that unless any member [would] like to chime in and correct me if I’m wrong,” Villagomez said.

Sablan said if the Senate proceeds with the trial without House prosecutors, it would be a travesty of justice. “And there could be no pretense anymore at that point that there will be a fair trial. It should be a shame, and it would be a grave injustice to the people of this Commonwealth if the Senate were to forego a trial,” Sablan said.