King-Nabors: Alepuyo made minor edits but no ‘nefarious motive’

Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors requested Gov. Ralph DLG Torres last Friday to withdraw Viola Alepuyo as his attorney of record, soon after the senator, who chairs the Senate Committee on the Impeachment Hearing, admitted that Alepuyo provided him some assistance in making minor edits to a draft of the Senate Rules of Impeachment.

As this developed, King-Nabors issued Friday a notice cancelling the prehearing conference in the impeachment case set for today, Monday, after House of Representatives Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) notified the Senate that he declines to serve as the House impeachment prosecutor.

King-Nabors said it is the intent of the impeachment hearing committee to proceed with the issuance of deadlines pursuant to the Senate Impeachment Rules at a later date.

King-Nabors

In a letter to Torres Friday, King-Nabors said that withdrawing Alepuyo as the governor’s counsel of record would avoid any unnecessary distractions and delays relating to the Senate impeachment hearing.

The chairman said that Sen. Paul A. Manglona (Ind-Rota) has “mistakenly and unjustifiably ascribed nefarious motive” to his request for Alepuyo’s help.

Last Thursday, Manglona urged House Speaker Villagomez and Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian) to investigate an alleged ex parte communication between Alepuyo and the Senate’s privately retained legal counsel, Joe McDoulett, saying he has documents showing Alepuyo and McDoulett having ex parte communication about drafting the Impeachment Rules. He claims that the documents showed edits that Alepuyo did on the draft rules.

Last Friday, in response to Manglona’s call for an investigation, King-Nabors wrote to Hofschneider apologizing for not disclosing the information because he did not think it was going to be an issue. King-Nabors said the tracked edits that are referenced in Manglona’s letter do reflect edits made by Alepuyo.

“To set the record straight, at my behest, Ms. Alepuyo did, in fact, made those edits,” he said.

King-Nabors said it should be known that at the time he reached out to Alepuyo, she was not the governor’s attorney of record.

“This is at the heart of the concerns contained in the letter and this fact should offer you greater clarity as to the context of how this transpired,” he said.

He said Alepuyo is a close family friend and that he regularly communicates with her on various matters.

“This time was no different,” said the senator, adding that he asked Alepuyo to review certain timelines within the rules, and to recommend what would be an appropriate amount of time for certain responses.

As such, King-Nabors said, Alepuyo made the edits, shortening the number of days for certain rules relating to when subpoenaed witnesses should respond for all parties.

King-Nabors noted that the suggested revisions offered by Alepuyo was done prior to the Senate’s adoption of the Impeachment Rules.

He said the prohibition on ex parte communications did not come into effect until the Impeachment Rules were adopted.

The senator said since Alepuyo was hired as the governor’s personal attorney, there has been no communications as it relates to the rules or the impending impeachment trial.

However, King-Nabors said, because of the appearance of impropriety and the unnecessary distraction that this issue has caused, as chairman of the Committee on the Impeachment Hearing, he will be formally issuing a letter to Torres requesting that Alepuyo withdraw as his attorney of record.

He said it is important that the process continues in accordance with the rules to ensure the expediency of this impeachment trial.

King-Nabors said this issue should not be a hindrance to the Senate moving forward with the impeachment trial for the good of the Commonwealth.

In a separate statement Friday, King-Nabors said Alepuyo made the edits on Feb. 13, 2022, and her appointment to serve as the governor’s personal counsel was made on Feb. 18, 2022. He said the Senate Impeachment Rules was passed in committee on Feb. 25, 2022, and adopted by the full Senate body on March 3, 2022.

The chairman said generally, there is no prohibition on ex parte communication in impeachment matters at the federal level, but their committee decided to include such a prohibition.

King-Nabors said that either Manglona had not read the rules or does not comprehend them. Had Manglona done so, he would know that the prohibition on ex parte communication did not come into effect until the rules were adopted, King-Nabors said.

Moreover, the chairman said, it is not uncommon for legislators to get input from members of the community to assist in drafting bills, resolutions, and rules. “There is no law against that. In essence, Sen. Manglona wants to make an issue of a non-issue,” he said.

King-Nabors said he is not interested in further delaying the impeachment hearing. He said the people are tired of this issue.

The chairman noted that it is quite perplexing that those who are advocating for impeachment are finding every way to delay this process.

“We as a community have wasted over three years on this issue. Now that we are close to achieving finality through an impeachment trial, the House with the assistance of Sen. Paul Manglona, is looking for any reason to delay this process,” he said.