Commonwealth Election Commission: What's an Emergency?

August 31, 2009

Living in Florida, I am familiar with election fraud and manipulation of votes. I also witnessed a fair amount of open corruption in elections when I lived in the CNMI. I was a freelance reporter for the Marianas Variety in the 1980's and 90's and I saw firsthand how the political candidates bought votes and rigged the elections when covering elections.

In one Rota election the ballots were counted one by one over a public P.A. system. The votes for Mayor, school board and other candidates that were announced were not out of the ordinary. What was striking, however, was that many times when a person had voted for a specific candidate for mayor, a write-in vote would be cast for a fictional character, entertainer or famous person for the Washington Rep. There were votes for Jane Fonda, Mickey Mouse, and others. Party members would write down the names as they were read so they could later compare them to lists of assigned names. It was a way of identifying "loyal" party members who were offered government jobs in exchange for votes.

It seems that the political manipulation of elections continues. The CEC issued emergency amendments to change the upcoming election ballots in what appears to be an attempt to alter the election process in favor of candidates belonging to a political party. Independent candidates have voiced objections. Party members were called to the CEC to draw lots to determine placement on the ballot. Independent candidates were not even consulted.

Independent candidates Juan T. Guerrero and Joseph Camacho have deemed the change unconstitutional and unlawful according to the Saipan Tribune. From the article:

Independent candidates Juan T. Guerrero and Joseph Camacho are taking issue with a recent decision by the Commonwealth Election Commission to, among other things, change the layout of the November ballots, saying this is both “unconstitutional and unlawful.”

In a meeting last Tuesday, the election board adopted emergency regulations amending its rules on the ballot's format and design, the 300-foot perimeter requirement, and the use of machines in the preliminary counting of ballots in each senatorial district.

Guerrero and Camacho's campaign manager, Clyde Norita, said the emergency regulations were adopted despite the absence of any emergency.

A source within the team said they are particularly opposed to the new layout of the ballot where candidates will be grouped with their respective parties, instead of being grouped according to the positions they're running for. In this case, one side of the ballot's front will have all the Covenant Party candidates; the other side will have all of the Republican Party candidates. All other parties, including the independent candidates, will be printed on the back of the ballot...

The CEC had called all recognized political parties to the commission's office on Aug. 25 to draw lots for candidate locations on the ballots that will be used in the upcoming Nov. 7 election. Guerrero's team claimed that they were never invited to the event, along with other independent candidates.

When asked about this, CEC executive director Robert Guerrero said that, based on the law, only recognized political parties are required to be at the event.

“We did not invite them because independent is not a party,” he added.

“Independent candidates are entitled to protection against actions such as those perpetrated by the commission on Aug. 25. The commission does not have the legal authority to create additional rights in favor of recognized political parties but to the detriment of, and in violation of the rights of, independent candidates,” Norita's letter stated.

He asked the commission to provide facts and authority used in the action taken.

Norita asked the CEC to withdraw its notice of emergency and adoption of amendments.

Rep. Tina Sablan has sent an Open Government Act Request requesting specific information on emergency regulations amendments to the CEC regulations that would change the ballot in an extreme and bias manner. The request is directed to the Commonwealth Election Commission (CEC) Executive Director Robert Guerrero, Chair Frances Sablan, and to CNMI Attorney General Edward Buckingham.

The Saipan Tribune quoted Rep. Sablan:

“These emergency regulations and the CEC executive director's comments suggest that the CEC is anything but indifferent to the outcome of the upcoming election, and raise serious questions about how free and fair this next election will be.”

Rep. Tina Sablan is an independent candidate. The emergency amendment would change the appearance of the ballots to a columnar listing of candidates organized by political party.

Rep. Sablan's letter:

RE: Objection to Emergency Amendments to CEC Regulations
Dear Mr. Guerrero, Ms. Sablan, and Mr. Buckingham,

I am writing to formally protest the emergency regulations that were approved by the Commonwealth Election Commission (hereinafter, “CEC”) on August 25, 2009, and specifically, Sections 5.1 and 5.2, regarding voting ballots, and ballot design and noncontestability, respectively.

The CEC declares that the adoption of the emergency regulations is in the public’s interest, and the specific reason cited for the emergency is that “[c]urrently, recognized political parties are not accorded the right to a place on the ballot in any election and have its candidates identified in a columnar format. Such columnar format will ensure party recognition and therefore avoiding any confusion among the local voter population. By the columnar ballot format, the commission wishes to reduce or eliminate any such confusion and ensure that recognize [sic] parties are accorded that right pursuant to regulations.” The CEC goes on to declare that its intent is “to protect the fundamental rights of citizens in casting a ballot in any election, free from the taint of intimidation and/or fraud.”

Section 5.1 of the emergency regulations then provides that the names of candidates shall be printed “in a columnar format for each political party or independent nomination of candidacy that is listed at the top of the ballot above the names of the nominated candidate for each office.” Section 5.2 provides that the CEC shall have the primary responsibility for the design for the ballot, that the CEC “shall have final approval over the design of the ballot,” and that the design of the ballot as approved by the CEC “shall be final and non-contestable in any Commonwealth Court or United States Court.” Furthermore, prior to the final publication of the ballot, the emergency regulations provide that there shall be drawings for “candidate locations and/or columns for the political parties on the ballot for the various offices.” On a date designated by the Executive Director of the CEC, “a representative of the political parties and the candidates (or their representatives)” will draw numbers for drawing order, “the political parties’ columnar position on the ballot,” and “individual candidates [sic] locations on the ballot where there is [sic] multiple (at least two) candidates from one political party for an individual office.” The regulations further provide that any person can act as a representative of a candidate, “provided that an authorization has been issued by that candidate.”

It is my understanding that pursuant to these new emergency regulations, only the recognized political parties were summoned by the CEC Executive Director to draw numbers last week. As an independent candidate, I was not invited nor was I even notified of the drawing, and I know of no independent candidate for any office who was informed either. A number was apparently drawn for me by the Executive Director, though I had not authorized the Executive Director to represent me. The outcome of these new regulations and the recent drawing of numbers by the political parties is that the ballot design approved by the CEC will display only the Covenant and Republican candidates for all offices in two columns (one for each party) on the top side of the ballot sheet. The back side of the ballot will display the Independent and Democrat candidates.

The new regulations and 2009 ballot design appear to be in violation of the spirit and intent of existing CNMI law. In 2006, with the support of the CEC, the 15th Legislature passed Public Law 15-7, which expressly intended to “repeal the mandates established by Public Law 14-87” that required that all candidates of a recognized political party shall be listed consecutively on the ballot with all the other candidates of the same party. House Standing Committee Report 15- 6 (February 28, 2006), at 2. The House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations found that ballot design had accounted for substantial differences in the percentage of valid votes counted in the 2005 election, compared to the 2003 election. Unlike the ballot form used in 2003, the ballot form used in the 2005 election did not list all candidates of a recognized political party consecutively with the other candidates of the same party, but instead organized candidates according to the offices sought and indicated whether they were representing a political party or running independently. In passing the bill that would become Public Law 15-7, the Legislature declared that “it is in the best interest of the public to follow the ballot design used in the 2005 general election because it promotes less confusion and results in greater percentage of valid votes.”

On Friday, August 28, 2009, I called the CEC to inquire about the justification for the emergency regulations, and specifically Sections 5.1 and 5.2. I asked what “rights” of the political parties were being protected exactly, and why. I was informed by the CEC Executive Director that the Commissioners’ rationale for the new ballot form they had approved was to make it easier and less confusing for elderly voters and “less literate” voters to vote straight down party lines if they wish. The Executive Director further said that voters who are “smart enough” to not vote straight down party lines “should be smart enough to turn the page.”

The new emergency regulations and the comments made by the CEC Executive Director suggest an alarming and wholly inappropriate bias by the CEC in favor of political parties, and against independent candidates. In the CEC’s own words, from a letter to all the candidates dated June 15, “[T]he Commonwealth Election Commission serves a vital role as the disinterested guardian of the democratic franchise in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Commonwealth Election Commission must ensure a free and fair election. It must be indifferent to the outcome of an election.”

These emergency regulations and the CEC Executive Director’s comments suggest that the CEC is anything but indifferent to the outcome of the upcoming election, and raise serious questions about just how free and fair this next election will be.
In closing, I request the following from the CEC:

1) Immediately withdraw Sections 5.1 and 5.2 of the emergency amendments to the CEC regulations adopted on August 25, 2009;

2) If the CEC intends to finalize and approve a ballot design listing candidates for political parties in consecutive order in columnar form – the CEC should afford all interested persons reasonable opportunity to submit comments on the said ballot design, and to issue a concise statement of the principal reasons for and against the adoption of the ballot design, and incorporate therein the CEC’s reasons for overruling the considerations urged against the adoption of the said ballot design, pursuant to 1 CMC § 9104 of the Administrative Procedure Act;

3) Cite the statutory authority, if any, for the CEC regulation which purports to preclude legal challenges to final ballot designs approved by the CEC;

4) Explain in writing why the new ballot design is not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, illegal, or in excess of the CEC’s statutory jurisdiction or authority; and

5) Make available for public inspection the minutes, transcripts, recordings, and any other public record documenting the CEC meeting held on August 25, 2009, and any other meeting of the CEC during which regulatory changes regarding ballot design were proposed and discussed. This specific request is submitted pursuant to the Open Government Act, 1 CMC §§ 9901 et seq., and as such requires your timely response within 10 days.

What constitutes an emergency? The notion that all measures must be taken to ensure victory in the upcoming election? That desire to manipulate laws? Who proposed these "emergency" regulations? The Covenant Party? The Republican Party? The Democrat Party? All of them? I did not see any statements from the political parties supporting these new regulations or denouncing them as unfair to independent candidates.

The Saipan Tribune reported today that after a special meeting yesterday to discuss the concerns of the independent candidates, Frances Sablan said that the board may reconsider the emergency amendments.

Here are the emergency amendments and the election law.

OGA Lawsuit Set Precedent

August 30, 2009

Attorney General Ed Buckingham said that the Governor's Office will comply with the Supreme Court decision that ordered the release of the documents related to the Open Government Act case filed by Rep. Tina Sablan in February 2009.

Mr. Buckingham said that the decision set a precedent. From the Marianas Variety:

Buckingham noted that the high court decision sets a precedent.

“The Supreme Court carefully crafted a decision that defines what is, and what is not, a ‘public record’ for the purpose of this case and for other future cases,” he said, adding that the “the government is prepared to release records on Monday.”

The retainer arrangement in the case has been disclosed earlier.

Now, specific invoices will also be released to Sablan, who represented herself in the lawsuit.

In the opinion the judges noted, "The exception to the disclosure exemption ensures that, although certain documents may fall under one of the 1 CMC § 9918(a) exemptions, the government may not take shelter behind the Act to hide what it may perceive to be harmful information."

The released documents will show how much was spent to date on the anti-federalization lawsuit, how much the law firm is charging, and what was the source of the funds used to pay Jenner and Block. The CNMI Legislature voted no to approve funds for the lawsuit. The Court ordered that the documents must be released today, August 31, 2009 by 5:00 p.m. (Saipan time.)

The Saipan Tribune reported that Governor Fitial sent out a memo saying that all OGA requests "for information received by departments and agencies from individuals, businesses, other entities or federal agencies, including congressional inquiries, to comply with the Open Government Act" should be cleared by his office before information is released if the information affects the office.

There was no explanation from the governor's office as to why the memo was issued.

From the Tribune:

“When the requested information affects the Office of the Governor, both the request and the requested information should be shared with me and the lt. governor to ensure that our offices are properly informed and to afford us the opportunity to provide vital input, clarifications or additional information useful to the Commonwealth,” the governor said.

Goodbye Teddy

Funeral mass in Boston, MA. Photos from Huffington Post

August 29, 2009

“For all those whose cares have been our concerns, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.”

Senator Edward Kennedy

It's hard to believe that Senator Kennedy is gone. His Senate web page is now a memorial page.

Senator Kennedy had a heart for the disenfranchised and the poor. He supported human rights, civil rights, women's rights, and workers' rights. Who could possibly ever replace him?

Colleagues, relatives and dignitaries gave passionate tributes at last night's memorial service and today's funeral. They spoke to Teddy Kennedy the friend, the father, the uncle, the compassionate man. Senator Orin Hatch's tribute revealed that Senator Kennedy reached across the aisle to get vital legislation passed.

I was most touched by the mass today where his grandchildren, nieces and nephews spoke of Senator Kennedy's political and social accomplishments that improved the quality of life for every American. His grandchildren also read statements of love at the grave site.

The crowd that came to say goodbye to Senator Kennedy in Washington, DC today was a sea of diversity. Thousands of people lined the streets waving American flags. Staffers and members of the Congress gathered on the steps of the Capitol Building. Across the street were thousands of people - families, young children and elderly. People came from all over the United States and from across the world to say goodbye to Senator Kennedy.

It was moving and sad to see 91-year-old Senator Robert Byrd, the longest serving US Senator, in a wheelchair on the Capitol steps with an American flag in his hand, wiping tears from his eyes.

As the hearse with the flag-draped casket approached the Capitol the crowd broke into applause and cheers to recognize Senator Kennedy as he took his last visit to Capitol Hill.

A policemen saluted. The hearse stopped in front of the Capitol steps and Vicky left her car to greet the staffers and well-wishers. Other Kennedy relatives joined her.

Rev. Daniel Coughlin, chaplin of the U.S. House of Representatives spoke to Mrs. Kennedy and then led a prayer. They sang America the Beautiful and then Mrs. Kennedy blew kisses to the crowd before she got into the car.

Senator Kennedy's son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) spoke to the staffers saying that they were a part of his father's legacy. He thanked them for their work and for coming to pay tribute to his father. After he left the podium he greeted Senator Byrd, as his step-mother Vicky Kennedy had.

The staffers broke into spontaneous song, singing God Bless America and America the Beautiful before the hearse left to go to the Arlington cemetery. The streets along the route were lined with thousands of people waving, clapping and wiping tears from their eyes.

As the cars wound through the Washington streets and crossed the Potmac River to Virginia en route to the cemetery, family members had their windows rolled down and waved to the well wishers.

Senator Kennedy was laid to rest on the hill in Arlington Cemetery alongside his brothers President John Kennedy and Senator Bobby Kennedy well after the sun set.

President Obama gave a stirring eulogy that blended the personal side of Senator Kennedy and told of his great accomplishments. Here is the text of President Obama's eulogy made this morning at the mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Basilica, Boston, Massachusetts:

Mrs. Kennedy, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy. The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the U.S. Senate - a man whose name graces nearly one thousand laws, and who penned more than three hundred himself.

But those of us who loved him, and ache with his passing, know Ted Kennedy by the other titles he held: Father. Brother. Husband. Uncle Teddy, or as he was often known to his younger nieces and nephews, "The Grand Fromage," or "The Big Cheese." I, like so many others in the city where he worked for nearly half a century, knew him as a colleague, a mentor, and above all, a friend.

Ted Kennedy was the baby of the family who became its patriarch; the restless dreamer who became its rock. He was the sunny, joyful child, who bore the brunt of his brothers' teasing, but learned quickly how to brush it off. When they tossed him off a boat because he didn't know what a jib was, six-year-old Teddy got back in and learned to sail. When a photographer asked the newly-elected Bobby to step back at a press conference because he was casting a shadow on his younger brother, Teddy quipped, "It'll be the same in Washington."

This spirit of resilience and good humor would see Ted Kennedy through more pain and tragedy than most of us will ever know. He lost two siblings by the age of sixteen. He saw two more taken violently from the country that loved them. He said goodbye to his beloved sister, Eunice, in the final days of his own life. He narrowly survived a plane crash, watched two children struggle with cancer, buried three nephews, and experienced personal failings and setbacks in the most public way possible.

It is a string of events that would have broken a lesser man. And it would have been easy for Teddy to let himself become bitter and hardened; to surrender to self-pity and regret; to retreat from public life and live out his years in peaceful quiet. No one would have blamed him for that.

But that was not Ted Kennedy. As he told us, "...[I]ndividual faults and frailties are no excuse to give in - and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves." Indeed, Ted was the "Happy Warrior" that the poet William Wordsworth spoke of when he wrote:

As tempted more; more able to endure,

As more exposed to suffering and distress;

Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.

Through his own suffering, Ted Kennedy became more alive to the plight and suffering of others - the sick child who could not see a doctor; the young soldier sent to battle without armor; the citizen denied her rights because of what she looks like or who she loves or where she comes from. The landmark laws that he championed -- the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, immigration reform, children's health care, the Family and Medical Leave Act -all have a running thread. Ted Kennedy's life's work was not to champion those with wealth or power or special connections. It was to give a voice to those who were not heard; to add a rung to the ladder of opportunity; to make real the dream of our founding. He was given the gift of time that his brothers were not, and he used that gift to touch as many lives and right as many wrongs as the years would allow.

We can still hear his voice bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature, in support of health care or workers' rights or civil rights. And yet, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did. While he was seen by his fiercest critics as a partisan lightning rod, that is not the prism through which Ted Kennedy saw the world, nor was it the prism through which his colleagues saw him. He was a product of an age when the joy and nobility of politics prevented differences of party and philosophy from becoming barriers to cooperation and mutual respect - a time when adversaries still saw each other as patriots.

And that's how Ted Kennedy became the greatest legislator of our time. He did it by hewing to principle, but also by seeking compromise and common cause - not through deal-making and horse-trading alone, but through friendship, and kindness, and humor. There was the time he courted Orrin Hatch's support for the Children's Health Insurance Program by having his Chief of Staff serenade the Senator with a song Orrin had written himself; the time he delivered shamrock cookies on a china plate to sweeten up a crusty Republican colleague; and the famous story of how he won the support of a Texas Committee Chairman on an immigration bill. Teddy walked into a meeting with a plain manila envelope, and showed only the Chairman that it was filled with the Texan's favorite cigars. When the negotiations were going well, he would inch the envelope closer to the Chairman. When they weren't, he would pull it back. Before long, the deal was done.

It was only a few years ago, on St. Patrick's Day, when Teddy buttonholed me on the floor of the Senate for my support on a certain piece of legislation that was coming up for vote. I gave him my pledge, but expressed my skepticism that it would pass. But when the roll call was over, the bill garnered the votes it needed, and then some. I looked at Teddy with astonishment and asked how he had pulled it off. He just patted me on the back, and said "Luck of the Irish!"

Of course, luck had little to do with Ted Kennedy's legislative success, and he knew that. A few years ago, his father-in-law told him that he and Daniel Webster just might be the two greatest senators of all time. Without missing a beat, Teddy replied, "What did Webster do?"

But though it is Ted Kennedy's historic body of achievements we will remember, it is his giving heart that we will miss. It was the friend and colleague who was always the first to pick up the phone and say, "I'm sorry for your loss," or "I hope you feel better," or "What can I do to help?" It was the boss who was so adored by his staff that over five hundred spanning five decades showed up for his 75th birthday party. It was the man who sent birthday wishes and thank you notes and even his own paintings to so many who never imagined that a U.S. Senator would take the time to think about someone like them. I have one of those paintings in my private study - a Cape Cod seascape that was a gift to a freshman legislator who happened to admire it when Ted Kennedy welcomed him into his office the first week he arrived in Washington; by the way, that's my second favorite gift from Teddy and Vicki after our dog Bo. And it seems like everyone has one of those stories - the ones that often start with "You wouldn't believe who called me today."

Ted Kennedy was the father who looked after not only his own three children, but John's and Bobby's as well. He took them camping and taught them to sail. He laughed and danced with them at birthdays and weddings; cried and mourned with them through hardship and tragedy; and passed on that same sense of service and selflessness that his parents had instilled in him. Shortly after Ted walked Caroline down the aisle and gave her away at the altar, he received a note from Jackie that read, "On you the carefree youngest brother fell a burden a hero would have begged to be spared. We are all going to make it because you were always there with your love."

Not only did the Kennedy family make it because of Ted's love - he made it because of theirs; and especially because of the love and the life he found in Vicki. After so much loss and so much sorrow, it could not have been easy for Ted Kennedy to risk his heart again. That he did is a testament to how deeply he loved this remarkable woman from Louisiana. And she didn't just love him back. As Ted would often acknowledge, Vicki saved him. She gave him strength and purpose; joy and friendship; and stood by him always, especially in those last, hardest days.

We cannot know for certain how long we have here. We cannot foresee the trials or misfortunes that will test us along the way. We cannot know God's plan for us.

What we can do is to live out our lives as best we can with purpose, and love, and joy. We can use each day to show those who are closest to us how much we care about them, and treat others with the kindness and respect that we wish for ourselves. We can learn from our mistakes and grow from our failures. And we can strive at all costs to make a better world, so that someday, if we are blessed with the chance to look back on our time here, we can know that we spent it well; that we made a difference; that our fleeting presence had a lasting impact on the lives of other human beings.

This is how Ted Kennedy lived. This is his legacy. He once said of his brother Bobby that he need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, and I imagine he would say the same about himself. The greatest expectations were placed upon Ted Kennedy's shoulders because of who he was, but he surpassed them all because of who he became. We do not weep for him today because of the prestige attached to his name or his office. We weep because we loved this kind and tender hero who persevered through pain and tragedy - not for the sake of ambition or vanity; not for wealth or power; but only for the people and the country he loved.

In the days after September 11th, Teddy made it a point to personally call each one of the 177 families of this state who lost a loved one in the attack. But he didn't stop there. He kept calling and checking up on them. He fought through red tape to get them assistance and grief counseling. He invited them sailing, played with their children, and would write each family a letter whenever the anniversary of that terrible day came along. To one widow, he wrote the following:

"As you know so well, the passage of time never really heals the tragic memory of such a great loss, but we carry on, because we have to, because our loved one would want us to, and because there is still light to guide us in the world from the love they gave us."

We carry on.

Ted Kennedy has gone home now, guided by his faith and by the light of those he has loved and lost. At last he is with them once more, leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image - the image of a man on a boat; white mane tousled; smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for what storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon. May God Bless Ted Kennedy, and may he rest in eternal peace.

Ted Kennedy, Jr. remembers his father:




Video of Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) remembering his father

Watch the video of President Obama's eulogy.

Link to Videos of Private Memorial Service at JFK Library Boston, MA

CNMI SUPREME COURT ORDERS RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS IN OGA CASE

August 28, 2009

Rep. Tina Sablan has announced that he CNMI Supreme Court has issued its Judgment affirming the trial court's order to release documents in the Open Government Act case related to the funding of the anti-federalization lawsuit:

Having considered the parties’ arguments, and pursuant to its SLIP OPINION issued this date, the Supreme Court:

AFFIRMS the trial court’s order. The government shall make available for copying and inspection documents numbered 1-30 on pages 16-18 of the trial court’s June 18, 2009 “Order Releasing Requested Documents Pursuant to the Open Government Act” by 5:00 p.m. on August 31, 2009.

Rep. Sablan said, "The principles of justice, democracy, and honest government have prevailed with the Supreme Court's decision, and for that I am both happy and grateful. I look forward to receiving the requested records on Monday, and will make them immediately available for public review."

Congratulations Tina! This is an important case in compelling the government to follow the Open Government Act, opening the doors to transparency which will help to prevent back door deals, political schemes, and government secrets in how taxpayer dollars are being spent.

The 15 page Opinion is a testimony to Rep. Sablan's perseverance and dedication as an honest public servant. From the opinion:

In passing the 2007 amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, the United States Congress declared in its findings that “our constitutional democracy, our system of self government, and our commitment to popular sovereignty depends on the consent of the governed, and consent is not meaningful unless it is informed consent . . .”

Likewise, in adopting the Open Government Act, the people of the Commonwealth “insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the [agencies and offices] they have created.” Public disclosure legislation provides a vehicle for citizens to remain informed about the decisions of respective agencies and offices throughout the Commonwealth. Without such knowledge, accountability falters, and officials are at liberty to expend public funds with minimal oversight. Having followed the statutory directive to liberally construe the provisions of the Open Government Act in favor of disclosure, we find that the government must make the public records available for inspection. Accordingly, the trial court’s order is AFFIRMED.

On September 12, 2008 CNMI Governor Benigno Fitial filed a controversial lawsuit suing the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor in an effort to block PL 110-229 with the goal of maintaining control of the dysfunctional CNMI labor and immigration system.

The lawsuit had little known public support and no formal support from the CNMI Legislature. The lawsuit was planned in secrecy with the governor's special legal counsel, Howard Willens and a very small band of his anti-federalization supporters. The governor has remained ambiguous about funding sources, except to reveal in the summer of 2008 that the lawsuit would cost an estimated $50,000 a month with an estimated total cost expected to be $400,000.

Representative Christina Sablan filed an Open Government Act request in October 2008 with the Governor and later in December 2008 with then Secretary of Finance Eloy Inos requesting information on the funding sources and contracts related to lawsuit. Both the governor and secretary refused to release the documents. Subsequently, Rep. Sablan filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court in an effort to have the documents released. The court ordered specified documents to be released. However, the government appealed to the CNMI Supreme Court.

For more information on this Open Government Act case see this post which contains all of the previous court documents including Associate Judge Wiseman's Order.

Federalization News

August 27, 2009

No Delay Expected

Allen Stayman, senior staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources said that a delay of federalization is "very unlikely" with just a three month window to pass legislation calling for an extension. He also reiterated that as stated in the CNRA the Department of Interior has until June 2010 to make recommendations to the U.S. Congress on status of the foreign contract workers.

Within the CNRA is a provision stating, “The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Governor of the Commonwealth, shall report to the Congress not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the Northern Mariana Islands Immigration, Security, and Labor Act. The report shall include the number of aliens residing in the Commonwealth; a description of the legal status (under Federal law) of such aliens; in five year increments, the number of years each alien has been residing in the Commonwealth; the current and future requirements for the Commonwealth economy of an alien workforce; and recommendations to the Congress related to granting alien workers lawfully present in the Commonwealth on the date of the enactment of such Act United States citizenship or some other permanent legal status.”

The Saipan Tribune reported:

“This is going to be a difficult transition and it may be that the best thing you do is to just get on with it. The further delay is not going to reduce the uncertainty that we're currently facing. What's going to resolve the uncertainty and the questions is to get on with the process,” Stayman told reporters after emerging from a meeting of the CNMI Energy Steering Committee at the Saipan Grand Hotel in Susupe yesterday afternoon.

Isaac Edwards also a senior staff member of the Senate committee commented on the federalization process:

Edwards, who was visiting Saipan for the first time, also shared the concerns of many in the CNMI-that there's a lack of communication from DHS about when the federalization regulations will come out and how they will be implemented.

Stayman said the CNMI does not have a U.S. citizen population that can meet its labor requirements, but there are two options to address this matter.

One is for the federal government to take over the guest worker program wherein their paperwork would shift from CNMI to federal, and second-which he said is a “more permanent solution”-would be to provide status under U.S. immigration law.

CNMI employers, he said, also have to consider giving two-year contracts to their employees to allow them maximum time while DHS puts forth the regulations and procedures. DHS is expected to release the regulations soon.

The Marianas Variety reported:

Once the federalization law is implemented, all guest workers in the CNMI will be considered as transitional workers.

Their existing contracts with CNMI employers issued by the Department of Labor will be honored until their expiration date.

“This is going to be a difficult transition. It may be that the best thing to do is just get on with it. The further delay is not going to reduce the uncertainty that we’re currently facing. Let’s get on with the process,” said Stayman.

“The [Department of Homeland Security] has a lot of flexibility to deal with things as they come up and I think that’s the best way to end the uncertainty — and end this transition. Let’s get this started,” he added.

Rep. Torres wants to review commonwealth status

Rep. Stanley Torres is calling for a review of US-CNMI relations according to the Saipan Tribune. He pre-filed H.B. 16-271 which would create the Second Marianas Political Status Commission to determine "whether the continuation of a commonwealth status is in the people's best interest, or whether some other political status would better enable them to fulfill their aspirations of full and meaningful self-government."

I wish the article reported what his recommendations or vision for commonwealth status would be. What is the "other political status" that he mentioned? To become independent of the U.S.? The Tribune reported:

Yesterday, Torres told Saipan Tribune of the importance of giving the CNMI people a “chance to revisit a treaty made 34 years ago to see if it is working out as promised.”

“Periodic evaluation of any agreement is key to maximizing its effectiveness. In that vein, our Covenant with the U.S.A. is certainly worth taking the time and effort necessary to closely reexamine it,” Torres said.

This is not the first time Torres introduced such legislation. He introduced four similar bills in previous sessions from 1997. In January 2008 Rep. Torres participated in the anti-federalization motorcade organized by the Taotao Tano.

Abramoff Scandal: Trail leading to CNMI

Saipan garment factory, Photo from New York Times

August 25, 2009

The indictment of Horace Cooper, the latest in a long chain of indictments in the Abramoff scandal, combined with the evidence list revealed in the Kevin Ring case connect more dots to bring the murky picture of the Abramoff scandal into sharper focus. The scandal goes deeper than the greed, corruption and arrogance of Abramoff and his army of ethically-challenged members of the U.S. Congress. The scandal extends well beyond the halls of Congress. Some of the dots can be connected to lead directly to the White House, U.S. Departments of Labor and to the CNMI.

The Anti Corruption Republican who lives in former Rep. Tom Delay's district in Texas revealed interesting developments from a status conference in the Ring case last week. He reported that in a courtroom discussion before U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle, the U.S. attorneys told the judge that there are thirty identified co-conspirators in the Abramoff case and 17 have been named.

He noted that previous documents filed in the Kevin Ring case revealed that Julie Doolittle, the wife of former Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) was already identified as a co-conspirator. Additionally, co-conspirators named at Ring's August 20, 2009 status conference were Susan Ralston, White House aide to Karl Rove; Padget Wilson, a lobbyist with Abramoff; and Jennifer Farley of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. That left nine co-conspirators who have not been named. If Horace Cooper was among the nine, then after he was indicted Friday that leaves eight co-conspirators to be named and who knows how many more to be identified.

The unnamed co-conspirators in the Abramoff scandal could be a former high level White House staffer, a couple of U.S. congressmen (one with dancing shoes), additional former congressional staffers, another Abramoff team member or two, or maybe an official, garment magnate or attorney or two from the CNMI.

Horace Cooper and his friends

By outward appearances Horace Cooper seemed an unlikely person to toss aside reputation, integrity and morals to work for Abramoff and his army of co-conspirators. He seemed to have a lot going for him career wise. Still he joins the ranks of other morally bankrupt former congressional staffers, turned Abramoff groupies, turned political appointees or lobbyists, turned indicted criminals. Greed and power were like addictive drugs to the Abramoff team members. After they had a little taste, they had to have a bigger dose to fulfill their cravings.

The GOPUSA web site praised Cooper as a "Republican top-gun", a political commentator and a senior fellow with the Washington, DC based think tank, Project 21, National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives. This group was affiliated with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank run by Amy Mortiz Ridenour.

Ridenour was a close friend of Jack Abramoff. They helped to organize the College Republican National Committee along with other pals, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed. Abramoff was once director of the National Center for Public Policy Research and eventually used it to launder money for Abramoff-sponsored trips and junkets, as documented by email exchanges.

Horace Cooper was among seven congressional aides who took the first Abramoff-sponsored junket to the CNMI in April 1996. Amy Ridenour took the November 1996 junket with other conservative think tank executives. The aim of the junkets was to convince the visitors that the CNMI should maintain control of their immigration and minimum wage. Billing records and email exchanges between the Abramoff team, members of Congress, staffers and CNMI players reveal that the junkets were staged to conceal the reality of the dysfunctional system and to instead reflect the illusionary image of an "economic miracle" and "petri dish of democracy." The CNMI was even billed for preparing the briefings and talking points that were given to the junket-takers.

A few of us vocally challenged the validity of the trips and the propaganda that the the junket takers spewed out. The A-team members were claiming labor abuses were "old news" even as garment factories were hit with enormous fines from the U.S. Department of Labor and OSHA.

Abramoff used conservative writers like Peter Ferrara and Doug Bandow to plant stories that he pre-approved in publications like The Washington Times. Their stories promoted the A-team talking points, claiming that there were no labor problems and the CNMI was an economic miracle.

Amy Ridenour was also one of the Abramoff writers. She wrote (or she signed her name to) several editorials between 1999 and 2001. An editorial from her website praised the CNMI's free market system and low wages and opposed federalization. It also supporte the garment industry:

Legislation providing for a federal takeover of the immigration authority of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI), a U.S. possession near Guam, is designed to shut down the Islands' garment industry and should be understood as such, says The National Center for Public Policy Research.

Her editorial went on to repeat the same Abramoff-CNMI lines that have been repeated for two decades to oppose federalization and maintain the status quo.

In 2005 Ridenour was called to testify before the Senate concerning her involvement in the Abramoff scandal. In her testimony she said:

The National Center's focus during approximately its first decade was on issues related to the Soviet Union. However, with the fall of the Iron Curtain, the National Center's focus turned to other conservative programs and issues.

One such program is Project 21, which highlights the views of conservative and moderate African-Americans by helping them get op-eds published in newspapers, arranging interviews on talk radio and other media, and issuing press releases based on information provided by this previously under-represented group. Since Project 21's inception in 1992, the news media has quoted its members approximately ten thousand times.

Project 21, the organization which featured such members as conservative spokesperson and dedicated Abramoff soldier Horace Cooper, was another Ridenour-Abramoff propaganda tool.

Ridenour was also an outspoken supporter of the Western Pacific Economic Council, the group of garment manufacturers and wealthy business leaders that contracted Abramoff to lobby to block federalization and minimum wage. They paid Abramoff $2.3 million in 1999 and 2000.

WPEC collaborated with Ridenour and Abramoff as this May 1999 Saipan Tribune story discussing "Made in USA" legislation reveals:

WPEC Chairman Ron D. Sablan referred to reports from WPEC’s public affairs firm in Washington D.C., while talking about it’s impact on the CNMI. "This legislation blindly and recklessly undercuts our ability to maintain our already reeling economy, while it dangerously attacks the fiber of the Covenant by amendments which border on discrimination."

"WPEC was formed to protect the spirit and intent behind the Covenant’s creation, and our friends in Washington report someone is about to carelessly end the good work the original negotiators had worked so hard to politically unionize," Sablan.

"Fortunately with the help of our public affairs firm others have joined to argue against this intrusion into our economic sustenance. The Americans for Tax Reform, the Council with Citizens Against Government Waste, the Traditional Values Coalition, and the National Center for Public Policy Research supported the WPEC’s stance that this legislation does not only discriminate against a member of the America family but also makes CNMI dependent on the United States," he said.

WPEC was part of the tangled web of deceit. The Washington-based organizations backed the CNMI agenda, not because they believed in it, but because they were Abramoff tools. Actually, the CNMI was paying for these organizations to back their position through their lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, who Sablan called their "public relations firm." Just check the billing records. Every time someone from the lobbying firm so much as emailed or called someone from these groups the CNMI was billed. Cha-ching!

Abramoff treated directors of these conservative think tanks to all-expenses paid junkets to the CNMI. Audrey Helen Mullens, executive director of Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, Amy Moritz Ridenour, president and chair of National Center for Public Policy and Andrea Sheldon Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition all took junkets to the islands. Each one returned to Washington, DC praising the two-tiered society that promoted indentured servitude. All denied that there were any abuses, labor violations or any problems with the guest workers- such an economic miracle!

Citizens Against Public Waste and the other organizations were accused of laundering money for Abramoff. The Washington Post covered the story in October 2006:

The Senate report released yesterday states that the nonprofit groups probably violated their tax-exempt status "by laundering payments and then disbursing funds at Mr. Abramoff's direction; taking payments in exchange for writing newspaper columns or press releases that put Mr. Abramoff's clients in a favorable light; introducing Mr. Abramoff's clients to government officials in exchange for payment; and agreeing to act as a front organization for congressional trips paid for by Mr. Abramoff's clients."

The report bolstered earlier revelations that Abramoff laundered money through the nonprofits to pay for congressional trips and paid Norquist to arrange meetings for Abramoff's clients with government officials including White House senior adviser Karl Rove.

The groups named in the report are Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform; the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, which was co-founded by Norquist and Gale Norton before she became Secretary of the Interior; Citizens Against Government Waste; the National Center for Public Policy Research, a spinoff of the Heritage Foundation; and Toward Tradition, a Seattle-based religious group founded by Rabbi Daniel Lapin.

The Traditional Values Coalition funded the $13,000 trip that former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-CO) and his wife took to the CNMI in 1999. It was Andrea Shelton from the TVC who made a scene outside the Senate Hearing in March 1998.

Gale Norton, was Abramoff's friend and co-founder of CREA, one of the organization that laundered money for Abramoff. He directed his clients, Indian tribal leaders to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to CREA.

The Abramoff scandal hit the DOI with indictments of Steven Griles and Roger Stillwell. Before Norton resigned from her position as Secretary of Interior she visited the CNMI. In January 2004 Norton was the guest speaker at the Saipan Chamber of Commerce's inauguration dinner. The Saipan Tribune reported that Pierce, Fitial and other garment industry representatives were there.

Another Abramoff-commissioned writer, John del Rosario, wrote an editorial in the Willie Tan-owned newspaper, the Saipan Tribune saying this:

The National Center for Public Policy Research believes that any concerns about employment conditions in the CNMI be handled as they are on the mainland: by U.S. and local government inspectors who have the authority to enforce government employment regulations. These inspectors are on the job in the CNMI.

He ends the editorial with this remark, "The National Center for Public Policy Research is a non-partisan Capitol Hill think-tank established in 1982." Non-partisan? Well, as non-partisan as Act Blue, I suppose.

Horace Cooper figures prominently in the CNMI billing records. He appears only once in the 2000 records:

9/22/00 1.90 Meeting with H. Cooper (Majority Leader Armey) and T. Casey (House Resources Committee) to review client interests in minimum wage, appropriation, and immigration bills; discussions with S. Vassell regarding appropriations projects; email update to J. Abramoff.

But Cooper has dozens of entries in the 1996 and 1997 billing records. My friend, Dengre from the Daily Kos, compiled a list of some of the entries:

3-13-96: Work on immigration bill Rule with calls and visits to Horace Cooper with Majority Leader Armey

4-15-96: Calls from Chris Myers with Chairman Crane; Horace Cooper with Majority Leader Armey and Matt Miller, AA for Rep Gutknecht regarding ongoing review of trip; possible committee/floor action on minimum wage and immigration issues important to CNMI

4-19-96: Meetings and discussions with Horace Cooper, Matt Miller and Chris Myers to frame issues and review questions for Friday afternoon meeting

6-10-96: meeting with Horace Cooper to review latest difficulties in CNMI; discuss ways to frame problems in a positive way, etc.

6-17-96: meeting with Horace Cooper to update on hearings, what to expect, latest DOI report.

7-9-96: Meeting with H. Cooper with Rep. Armey to review recent House and Senate Hearings and potential future actions by House and Senate staff, attempts to attach damaging language to appropriations bills and other vehicles between now and end of Congress; review issues with J. Abramoff;

8-29-96: Meeting with Leadership office staffers including H. Cooper, K. Knott and B. Gunderson regarding timing of September floor action, legislative priorities for GOP Leadership as related to Delegate bill;

2-24-97: meeting with H. Cooper, Leg Counsel for Majority Leader Armey to review agenda for 105th Congress leadership agenda.

4-6-97: Business dinner with Horace Cooper of the Office of Majority Leader Armey to discuss a range of issues.

5-13-97: Phone calls to the Hill to monitor a variety of issues; follow-up with Horace Cooper, General Counsel to-the Office of the Majority Leader;

9-4-97: call to H. Cooper (Majority Leader Armey) regarding fall floor schedule, Interior Appropriations bill.

Cooper was a seriously addicted Abramoff junkie always looking for more ways to score a stronger fix of greed and power. He was also a soldier in Majority Leader Dick's Armey, even having a private email address: armeyman@netscape.net. Armey, of course was a major "ally" of the CNMI.

Cooper's alleged illegal acts in conspiring with the CNMI garment manufacturer, Abramoff, and Volz and the unnamed CNMI garment representative were not victimless. When he conspired to stop or hide labor violations related to a Saipan garment manufacturer, he inflicted harm on the victims by covering up the violations and allowing them to continue. Volz tells Abramoff, "Horace has been good at inserting himself through reorganizations at holding off punitive action (could be couple million dollars) and getting some of the 'problems' moved to other offices."

Neil Volz who was named in the Cooper indictment had a history of corrupt dealings in the CNMI. He was the former chief of staff for convicted felon former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) who was identified in documents as Representative #1. After leaving the House, Volz joined the Abramoff team as a lobbyist. Volz was convicted in May 2006. In his Factual Basis for Plea it states (links added):

While Volz was a congressional staffer:

a. in January 2000, while he was chief of staff to Representative #1, Volz, with Representative #1's knowledge and approval, traveled to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ("CNMI") in part to assist Scanlon and others with their lobbying businesses.

d. in March 2001, Representative #1 agreed to support legislation which would have permitted manufacturers in the CNMI to attach "Made in the USA" labels to their goods while exempting the manufacturers from compliance with federal labor standard applicable to manufacturers operating inside the fifty states.

The January 2000 trip to the CNMI is well publicized. Volz joined Michael Scanlon staffer of former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) and Ed Buckham, former Chief of Staff for Delay, who was working as a lobbyist. They conspired to ensure that Benigno Fitial would become Speaker of the House so he could get Abramoff's contract renewed. They allegedly bribed two congressmen, Rep. Norman Palacios (Tinian) and Alejo Mendiola (Rota), to switch votes in exchange for promises of infrastructure projects for their islands. The scheme worked. (See this post, Bribes and Corruption in the CNMI for more on this story.)

The Cooper indictment reveals that their latest scheme was to aid the garment manufacturer to conceal violations by getting rid of the U.S. Department of Labor investigator:

73. On or about April 28, 2003, Volz e-mailed Abramoff, telling him that "Horace [COOPER] is talking with General Counsel at DOL to assess options [on the CNMI Garment Manufacturer issues]."

74. In or about late-April 2003, COOPER suggested to Volz that the best way to remove an attorney on the U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the CNMI Garment Manufacturer would be to identify an actual or perceived conflict of interest, which would lead to removal of that individual from the investigation.

75. On or about April 29, 2003, COOPER inquired of colleagues within the U.S. Department of Labor regarding the process for removing an attorney from an investigation.

76. In or about late-April 2003, COOPER told Volz that he was "putting someone in place in [the U.S. Department of Labor office in] San Francisco who could help with the next stage of the process - getting a negotiated agreement with DOL to stop all this madness."

78. On or about June 9, 2003, COOPER corresponded with an official at another executive branch agency seeking information on a "renegade attorney."

79. On or about October 5, 2003, Volz sent an e-mail to Abramoff updating him on the assistance he believed COOPER had been providing: "Horace [COOPER] has been good at inserting himself through reorganizations at holding off punitive action (could be couple million dollars) and getting some of the 'problems' moved to other offices."

80. On or about October 8, 2003, during a meeting between COOPER, Volz and a representative of the CNMI Garment Manufacturer in his office at the U.S. Department of Labor, COOPER reaffirmed his commitment to assist the CNMI Garment Manufacturer with respect to the U.S. Department of Labor investigation and advised Volz and the CNIMI Garment Manufacturer representative that they should direct their allies on Capitol Hill to contact the U.S. Department of Labor as another method of influencing the Department's position. COOPER never disclosed to his supervisors or other U.S. Department of Labor officials involved in the CNMI Garment Manufacturer matter that he was hosting this meeting with an adverse party.

In order to stop a professional labor investigator who threatened to expose and stop abuses, Cooper and the A-team conspired to have the attorney removed from the case. Wouldn't it have been a better idea to actually stop the abuses instead of covering them up and allowing them to flourish? In the minds of the A-team members news of abuses and violations would have put holes in their fabricated image of the perfect paradise, and those dedicated investigators had to be stopped.

The Abramoff-CNMI team wrote the playbook describing the tactics that are still used today - manipulate, bury the truth at all costs, and keep spinning that illusionary story of the economic miracle. The violating garment manufacturer appears to have gotten off at the expense of the innocent guest workers.

There is mention of another play from the Abramoff-CNMI playbook in the indictment. Getting "allies on Capitol Hill to assist." Elected members of Congress who had been treated to junkets or received favors and gifts from the A-Team penned numerous "Dear Colleague" letters, letters to the editor, and speeches that would be given on the House floor regurgitating the Abramoff-CNMI talking points. The CNMI and taxpayers paid for all of this, as the billing records indicate.

Who is the renegade attorney? The indictment contained the statement that Cooper had corresponded "with an official at another executive branch agency seeking information on a "renegade attorney." Was that "renegade attorney" former U.S. Department of Labor attorney, Faye von Wrangel who had moved to the Department of State to accept a position as Labor Attache in the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh? She was the attorney who successfully won a lawsuit against Tan Holdings that resulted in a $9 million settlement, the largest labor settlement imposed by the U.S. Dept. of Labor in U.S. history. Tan also had to pay $76,000 in OSHA violations and pledged $1.3 million in factory renovations. Over the years many more labor cases would be filed against the company, including EEOC cases against Tan factories that resulted in a $1.7 million settlement in July 2009.

Who is the investigator? I knew only one U.S. Department of Labor investigator from the San Francisco DOL office who worked in the CNMI. Kwok-Wai Lau was an investigator with the Wage and Hour Division, Employment Standards Administration. He was a brilliant bilingual investigator who could read, write, and speak fluently in the Chinese dialects of Cantonese, Mandarin and Shanghai. He worked as an investigator with U.S. DOL attorney Faye von Wrangel on the Tan case in 1991 and 1992 so it would not be unlikely that it was Kwok who they were trying to silence. But any dedicated attorney or investigator who worked in the CNMI could have been the target.

Who is the Saipan garment manufacturer and who is the CNMI garment representative? We can only guess because the manufacturer and their representative were not identified, but the only garment manufacturer I saw mentioned in the emails or in the billing records was Willie Tan of Tan Holdings and Luen Thai. I believe that the garment manufacturer named in the indictment will prove to be Tan Holdings.

Tan and those connected to the garment industry poured campaign contributions into U.S. races of "allies" who they thought would push their agenda in Congress.

Willie Tan, Eloy Inos and Beningo Fitial were guests of Jack Abramoff's at the 1996 Republican Convention in California. Abramoff hosted Saipan garment magnate Willie Tan, his company executive, Benigno Fitial (former speaker of the CNMI House and present governor), and another Tan executive, Eloy Inos (former Secretary of Finance and present lt. governor

It appears that the three CNMI garment industry visitors had a busy schedule at the GOP convention. Abramoff billed the CNMI for five days of meetings, meals, introductions to conservative members of Congress, and parties. Strategies were developed including plans to recruit still more potential CNMI-backers for junkets to the CNMI. From the billing records:

8/10/96 PP [Patrick Pizella] 2.70 Dinner meeting with W. Tan, E. Inos and B. Fitial re: CNMI issues—minimum wage , immigration and upcoming congressional elections and CNMI legislation; discussion re: upcoming trips of journalists and think tank representatives to CNMI and visits to Tan Holdings factory.

8/11/96 PP [Patrick Pizella] 4:30 Participate in event sponsored by Sen. Santorum's “FIGHT PAC” with W. Tan, E. Inos, B. Fitial and Senator Jim Jeffords (R-VT); follow-up luncheon/discussion with staff director of Senate Energy committee- G. Renkes; introduction of B. Fitial to Cong. Dan Burton (R-IN).

8/13/96 JA [Jack Abramoff] 4.00 Meetings at the Republican National Convention regarding Congressional Conservative Movement and Republican Party support for CNMI

8/13/96 JB [ Jonathan Blank ] 8:00 Meet with Saipan officials.

8/14/96 JA [Jack Abramoff] 4.00 Meetings at the Republican National Convention regarding Congressional Conservative Movement and Republican party support for CNMI

8/14/96 JA [Jack Abramoff] 8:00 Meet with Saipan officials.

8/15/96 JB [ Jonathan Blank ] 8:00 Meet with Saipan officials.

In exchange for all of the opportunities to network and gather support, John Pangelinian, Publisher of the Tan-owned newspaper, The Saipan Tribune, made two $5,000 contributions to Santorum's Fight PAC in August 2006.

The Cooper indictment centers on emails that Volz, Cooper, and Abramoff exchanged, some during April 2003. In the Kevin Ring exhibits there is mention of two 2003 emails sent between Ring and Pierce, one sent March 27, 2003 and one sent April 22, 2003:

Exhibit 397 3/27/2003 Email from Pierce to Ring, "please review" and attachment

Exhibit 401 4/22/2003 Email from Ring to Pierce (no subject) and attachments

Pierce was the main spokesperson for the garment industry, and defender of Fital and Tan. He held high level leadership positions in the Western Pacific Economic Council (WPEC), the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and SGMA, the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association.

Pierce was also tight with Abramoff. In March 2000 he lobbied to get Abramoff's contract renewed using his position in the Saipan Chamber of Commerce in appealing to then Governor Juan Babauta. From the Saipan Tribune:

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce is urging the Babauta administration to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors and retain the services of Washington lobbyists who could help the CNMI protect its interests in Washington D.C.

In a letter addressed to Gov. Juan N. Babauta, Chamber president Richard A. Pierce said that, although the Murkowski bill has been removed from the Senate calendar, thus removing imminent threats of a federal takeover, a similar bill may be introduced through the Senate Judiciary Committee, where immigration matters rest.

...Like most employers in the CNMI, Pierce stressed that the Chamber knows that, without the continued local control on immigration matters, there would be difficulties encountered in sustaining businesses in the Commonwealth.

“This local authority that provided skilled employees, where no local personnel were available, still affords a workforce where there are not even enough local hires to fill existing jobs created since the CNMI’s economy grew to what it is today,” he said.

In light of this, Pierce said the Chamber is asking the new administration to use every means at its hands, which includes the retaining of public affairs consultants, to protect the local control of immigration authority.

In the 2000 CNMI billing records there are these entries:

9/13/00 4.00 Conduct Democratic group client strategy discussion for 107th Congress; draft memos to R. Pierce; research on H.R. 4986; conference with A. Slomowitz on same; conduct WPEC/CMMI team meeting; review materials.

09/14/00 PP 1.30 Confer on phone with R. Holmes (LD, Hayworth R-AZ) regarding federal minimum wage law impact on CNMI; e-mail to WPEC team regarding M. Kirk (Nickels, R-OK) comments on minimum wage legislation negotiate; e-mail WPEC team response from C. Conda (LD, Abraham, R-MI) regarding S. 922; e-mail WPEC team regarding advertisement in RollCall; confer on phone with B. Loper (Delay, R-TX) regarding House appropriations issues.

The campaign to renew Abramoff continued. In February 2001 Jack Abramoff was in the CNMI speaking to various CNMI organizations and fans including Richard Pierce. From the Saipan Tribune:

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce’s Government Relations Committee held it’s first meeting of the year by inviting Mr. Jack Abramoff to speak to its members and other partners in the CNMI business and political community.

Those who sat down for the meeting were officials from the Chamber, the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association, the CNMI Contractors Association and members of the Saipan Bankers Association.

Also present were major CNMI business entities from the communications, shipping, and retail industries, as well as Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez, House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial and members of the CNMI Bar Association.

Abramoff updated the committee on changes in the US administration, new jurisdictional Committee heads and expected federal legislation affecting the CNMI with emphasis on the continued control of minimum wage, immigration authority and tariff and trade privileges.

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce will continue to support any and all efforts, through friends and allies in Washington DC, to maintain the economic incentives embodied in the Covenant Agreement between the US and the Commonwealth.

In September 2001 Pierce organized an informal meeting with Abramoff and "some friends" according to the Saipan Tribune:

In what was described as an “informal” gathering, the CNMI government's lobbyist in Washington D.C. updated Commonwealth officials on the status of CNMI-related issues and bills now pending before the US Congress.

According to Richard Pierce, president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Jack Abramoff of Greenberg & Traurig presented his federal legislative report and update at the Hyatt Hotel's Chinese Restaurant yesterday noon.

...“Abramoff was just passing through Saipan and I asked him to sit in and talk with me today with a few friends about the affairs back in Washington, D.C. It was not a formal meeting, just an informal gathering of friends, mainly community business people,” Pierce told reporters after the luncheon presentation.

Pierce said that Abramoff covered all issues pertaining to the CNMI with respect to minimum wage and immigration, the Miller bill, the Murkowski bill, some appropriation talks, changes in the US Senate, “just a lot of stuff over what's happening in Washington. Kind of an update on federal activity,” he said.

Pierce quoted Abramoff as saying that things have changed a little bit “and he told us a little about those changes-changes in the US Senate, a difference in the attitude that goes along with the difference in the administration in the United States.

“The issue of bills that would affect the CNMI, as varied as they are, is coming probably from a slightly different perspective or is being received differently based upon the changes in the administration,” he said.

Abramoff himself refused to issue any comments or statements to the media.

This was not the first time that Abramoff presented such a report, “as he has given these insightful, informative and fascinating perspectives into the Washington D.C. scene and affairs on prior occasions to the Saipan business community,” Pierce said.

When asked if he thinks there is still a need for a lobbyist, Pierce said that it is always good to have friends in Washington, D.C. “I don't think there's any doubt about that. The rights and privileges and protection that the Commonwealth has had until now have to be taken cared of. It's always good to stay on top of things. It's difficult for the CNMI government which is 8,000 miles away, to stay on top of it,” he said.

How does one "just pass through Saipan?" Pierce was still lobbying to get his friend another lobbying contract.

In August 2002, Pierce was in San Francisco representing the Saipan Garment Manufacturing Association in what the Saipan Tribune called a series of meetings with top U.S. Department of Labor officials:

The industry official was at U.S. Labor Region IX offices in San Francisco, California on Aug. 9, meeting with Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials led by Region IX OSHA Administrator Frank Strasheim and OSHA officials Connie Hunt and Adrienne Huey.

After the OSHA meetings in San Francisco, Pierce met with Judy Biviano Lloyd who is the Region IX Representative of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. They discussed industry matters, progress in federal compliance and future cooperative efforts such as the Excellence 2000 Partnership.

The last round of meetings was with U.S. Labor Wage & Hour Division Region IX Administrator George Friday and his director of Targeted Enforcement, Rolene Walker.

Pierce said Friday has indicated his division's desire to sign a memorandum of understanding with SGMA, similar to Excellence 2000, the successful occupational safety partnership with OSHA.

Under such MOU, Wage & Hour would provide SGMA members with more educational consultancy to ensure increased compliance.

Friday also said the department would soon release a report on federal investigative findings for factories in Saipan. He stated that there are still issues to be addressed, but nothing on the scale of problems encountered in former visits.

Pierce found the meetings especially encouraging: “SGMA is, of course, pleased to continue our cooperative effort with OSHA. Our buyers are more than satisfied with the federal reports on our factory conditions.

Isn't this what the Abramoff-CNMI team did in the U.S. Congress? Make friends with those in power to cover-up abuses and move the CNMI agenda forward? Was the A-team using the same agenda in the U.S. Department of Labor that they had successfully used in the Congress to block federalization?

The indictment mentioned that Cooper conspired with a "high level official from the DOL" to reassign investigators:

55. On or about December 18, 2002, in an e-mail to Volz regarding the CNMI Garment Manufacturer's interest in postponing an upcoming meeting with the U.S. Department of Labor, COOPER claimed: "[I] just had a good conversation with [a high-level U.S. Department of Labor official] and she accepted my view that I should recommend to [another U.S. Department of Labor official] that the meeting be postponed."

56. On or about December 20, 2002, COOPER advised Volz that he spoke with a senior U.S. Department of Labor official regarding the rescheduling of the meeting.

57. On or about December 22, 2002, COOPER e-mailed Volz from his personal account to tell him about the meeting with the senior U.S. Department of Labor official, stating "While I think we're heading into the endzone (sic) on this, I'll continue with an update when I return from break on the 27th."

Could one of the unnamed senior officials who conspired with Cooper and the garment manufacturer be Judy Biviano Lloyd, the Region IX Representative of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao who Pierce met with in San Francisco?

In October 2002 Pierce was back in San Francisco meeting with the Department of Labor officials. From the Saipan Tribune:

Pierce recently met with US DOL in San Francisco and anticipates signing a similar memorandum of understanding with them, as that with OSHA.

In May 2003 Pierce was in the news again. He was upset because there was news in the mainland that Saipan garment factories were under investigation:

Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association chairman James C. Lin and executive director Richard A. Pierce stressed that there are no SGMA member-companies that have impending association actions for violations of the group's Code of Conducts and/or non-compliance with federal health and safety laws.

“Imagine our surprise, when visiting U.S. Department of Labor officials, in a meeting we had on May 20, 2003 at our SGMA offices, showed us this front page newspaper story that five of our members may shut down and have actions to be initiated against them for violations of federal labor laws,” Pierce said.

He added: “Although SGMA suspended a member company from the association on May 12, 2003 for violations of the Code of Conduct and a board-approved conditional agreement, we have no other SGMA members in willful violation of our industry standards.”

In January 2004 Secretary of Interior, Gale Norton and Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) took toured a Sapian garment factory. From the Saipan Tribune:

“We had the opportunity to tour one [garment factory] today and see the workers at work, see the facilities provided for them, to ask about their wages and hours. I'm pleased to say that there has been a great deal of improvements and that we look forward to continued improvements but it certainly has made a lot of progress since the 1990's,” she said. “I was pleased with what I saw; I think the conditions that we saw were clean and were something that.it seems to be well-enforced and regulated and policed and it's also something that the companies are trying to do on their own.”

When asked if she saw any areas that could be further improved, Norton said that overall, the wages and conditions at this point are good “but I think over time we will see things getting better.”

“We were especially focused on things like the OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] requirements, health and safety kind of requirements and we do continue to see progress and we will continue to work with people on those issues,” she added.

Richard Pierce, outspoken pro-garment, anti-federalization Tan-defender appears to have been the point man for WPEC and Abramoff with the U.S. Department of Labor. He is the most likely person who could be the garment representative who met with Cooper at the U.S. Department of Labor. Yet Tan had many "representatives" including attorneys like Matt Gregory and consultants like Ben Fitial, former Tan vice-president.

We also know that Kevin Ring and Abramoff corresponded with Willie Tan and Ben Fitial as documented by the email exchanges introduced as evidence in the Kevin Ring exhibits. Their correspondence centered on discrediting a former garment factory work turned spokesperson for U.S. textile unions.

Tan did not just contract Abramoff as his lobbyist to protect the garment industry's interests, but he gave Abramoff hundreds of thousands of dollars to bribe members of Congress, staffers and clients with tickets to sporting events and concerts. On March 28, 2000 Abramoff sent Willie Tan an email requesting payment for suites at Camden Yards, MCI Center, and JKC stadium. The bill indicates that the total was $223,679 and Arbamoff was asking for the quarterly fee of $55,919.75.

Who was using these skyboxes? Horace Cooper for one. In 2000 alone the tickets he accepted from the A-Team for events at the MCI Center and Camden Yards were valued at over $2,000. Ring, Boulanger, Blackann, Copland, and many of the other indicted Abramoff co-conspirators accepted tickets.

All of the evidence appears to point to Tan Holdings as that unnamed CNMI garment manufacturer. A January 2006 article in The Standard states that federal agents were in Hong Kong investigating the Abramoff scandal. From the article:

Among the likely subjects of interest here is a previously unknown company called Rose Garden Holdings. In May 2002, Abramoff notified the US Senate that Rose Garden had hired him and Greenberg Traurig, his firm at the time, to represent Rose Garden's "interests before federal agencies and [the] US Congress."

Abramoff recorded Rose Garden's address as a luxury flat in Tai Hang, above Causeway Bay, and its business as international trade. Over the next year and a half, the records show, Rose Garden paid Greenberg Traurig US$1.4 million (HK$10.92 million) for putting its case to the Senate, House of Representatives and US Department of Labor.

Hong Kong's Companies Registry has no record of Rose Garden Holdings; nor does the telephone directory. The apartment listed by Abramoff as Rose Garden's premises has been owned since 1992 by Luen Thai Shipping and Trading, according to the Land Registry.

Luen Thai Holdings and its controlling shareholders, the Tan family, were leading beneficiaries of Abramoff's Washington lobbying.

Rose Garden Holdings paid Greenberg Traurig $700,000 in lobbying fees in 2002 and $720,000 in 2003 according to the Open Secrets website.

The Washington Times reported that Cooper is claiming his innocence:

"Horace Copper is innocent," his lawyer, Solomon L. Wisenberg, said Friday. "We are very disappointed the Department of Justice decided to go forward with these charges, and we intend to fight them vigorously in a court of law."

The evidence is stacked against Cooper. With most of the indicted defendants accepting plea bargains that require them to cooperate and talk, we can assume that those who have already been indicted are providing the evidence needed to convict Cooper and the other remaining co-conspirators.

©2009 Wendy L. Doromal

Senator Ted Kennedy Dies

August 26, 2009

Sad news from the Kennedy family:

"Edward M. Kennedy - the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply - died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port," the statement said. "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it's hard to imagine any of them without him."

Senator Ted Kennedy served 46 years in the U.S. Congress where he championed the rights of the everyday person and the downtrodden. He wrote over three hundred bills that were passed into law. He fought for civil rights, social justice, education reform, equal access for the disabled, and most recently worked to ensure that every American would have access to quality health care.

Kennedy was the last pillar of the Massachusetts Kennedy dynasty that included his brothers President John Kennedy and Senator Bobby Kennedy who were both assassinated. His sister Eunice Shriver died two weeks ago. He died from brain cancer.

The New York Times quotes President Obama:

“Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time.”

I hope that the Congress passes a comprehensive health care bill in his memory. What a sad day for our country.

Senator Kennedy's last speech at the Democratic Convention in Denver Colorado last year:

Thank you Dengre for this link to the video of Senator Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor fighting for the working men and women of the U.S. No wonder he was called the Lion of the Senate.

US Military: Filipino hostages are still alive

The Casas family posed for a photo before Joven (Bob) Casas left to work on the MV Irene. From left to right: Joven (Bobby), Venus, Gemma & Dave with parents in front.

August 25, 2009

The Philippine Inquirer and ABS-CBN continue the coverage of the hostage situation of the MV Irene. Both sources reported that the hostages aboard the MV Irene are still alive according to satellite photos from the U.S. military. Joven (Bob) Casas brother of our friend, Gemma Casas, is among the hostages aboard the ship. From ABS-CNN:

Gemma Q. Casas, a Filipino journalist based in the Northern Marianas, said US military intelligence sources sent word that the crew of MV Irene crew are “still alive and safe,” allaying their families’ fears that some of them may have died. The ship’s captain had complained last week that food and water provisions had run out.

Her only brother, Joven Q. Casas, is a master electrician on the ship.

Ms. Casas said the U.S. military took a satellite image of the crew. The US, however, has no jurisdiction to intervene in the hostage situation because all crew of the Greek-owned bulk carrier MV Irene EM are Filipinos.

Somali pirates attacked and held the ship hostage on or about April 13, the US military said. Information reaching the Athens-based MV Irene’s mother company, Bright Maritime Corp., shows it was hijacked on the April 14.

HMES Winnipeg of Canada sent a helicopter to the MV Irene’s location when it was attacked, but the pirates were quick in capturing the ship.

The Canadian ship is scheduled to return this week to Winnipeg, where Casas’ younger sister, Divrose, is based.

International campaign

The Casas family and the families of the other victims, including American human rights advocate Wendy Doromal, are appealing to the Philippine government, the United Nations, the African Union, and other international organizations, to intervene for the immediate release of the hostages.

The pirates are demanding US$2.8 million, but the shipping firm is having difficulty raising the money.

“I hope my son comes out alive of this hostage situation,” said Mrs. Erlinda Casas, a 68-year-old retired government employee. “This is a tragic incident and no family should suffer the same. The Philippine government should lead the fight against international sea piracy. After all, one-third of merchant sailors around the world are from the country. These men and women need the protection of their government especially in times of adversity.”

Doromal said the international community should unite to fight international sea piracy.

“The international community needs to unite to end the piracy off the coast of Somalia to ensure that the world's seafarers are protected. This is not merely an economic issue, but more importantly, it is a human rights issue,” said Doromal.

Facebook page

Doromal and other cause-oriented sympathizers of the hostages of the Somali pirates have set-up a page on Facebook—Liberate Somali Pirate Hostages—dedicated to the plight of MV Irene and the growing problem on terror at sea.

“I appeal to the public to join our grassroots effort in signing the petition and contacting officials to demand the release of the hostages of the MV Irene, E.M. and other pirated vessels,” said Doromal.

The online petition to free the crew of the MV Irene can be accessed at http://www.petitiononline.com/mvirene/petition.html.

The family of MV Irene’s captain, Necitas Garcia, is also appealing for the international community’s intervention. Garcia’s 21-year-old nephew is also among the hostages.

The Necitas family of Tanauan, Batangas, about 55-km. south of Manila, said the captain, who is already in his mid-50s, was supposed to be married for the first time had MV Irene arrived home as scheduled last month.

The other crew members are from the provinces of Iloilo, Quezon, and Cebu. Some are also from Metro Manila.

One of longest crises

MV Irene’s hostage crisis is one of the longest in Somalia’s history.

Somalia spiraled to chaos after its last known government was overthrown in 1991. The country gained independence from Britain in 1960. About 700 Somalis attempt to cross Kenya every day to seek refuge in the Dadaab Refugee Camp.

In 1992, the U.S. sent USS Lummus to the country to feed hundreds of Somalis who were stricken by severe famine due to drought.

Different rebel groups now run most of Somalia even though a transitional federal government was recently recognized by the United Nations.

The International Maritime Bureau, a non-profit organization helping fight sea piracy, said the number of ships attacked this year has doubled.

According to its latest report, a total of 78 vessels were boarded by pirates worldwide, 75 vessels fired upon, and 31 vessels hijacked. A total of 561 crew were taken hostage, 19 injured, seven kidnapped, six killed, and eight missing.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said that negotiations to free the hostages continue. ABS-CBN reported:

Talks are ongoing for the release of 22 Filipino seamen whose ship, MV Irene, was seized by armed Somali pirates five months ago off the Gulf of Aden.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos told ANC's On the Scene on Monday, "All I can say is the talks are on-going, the seamen are all in good physical condition."

In addition to the 22, there are 20 other Filipino seamen held captive by Somali pirates. Thus, there are a total of 42 Filipino seamen on board 3 ships who have yet to be released.

"My appeal to the families...I know it's difficult at this time, give us more time. Government is working double time on these cases. Hopefully, the results that we were able to obtain in the previous cases will also be the same in these 3 remaining cases," Conejos said.

Asked about the health condition of the seamen, Conejos said he can assure the family members "that they are in touch with the crew, and we have been assured that they are in good physical condition."

"There is no point in negotiation if we are not able to demonstrate that the crew is safe," he added. "We have that assurance, we are able to confirm that. Yes, that's why we are going on with the negotiations."

Conejos said that since the spike of piracy in Somalia started in March 2006, a total of 389 Filipino seamen have been held hostage, and 347 have been released.

The Philippine Inquirer commented on the urgent condition of the crew:

Last week, Casas also told Philippine media that the ship captain complained last week they have no more food and water, causing the families to worry.

Please sign the petition appealing to free the crew of the MV Irene. Become a fan of Liberate Pirate Hostages Facebook page and ask your friends for support in this mission to free the crew of the MV Irene!

Liberate Pirate Hostages on Facebook

Other posts on the crew and hostage situation of the MV Irene:

Campaign to Free Hostages From Pirates
Photo of Pirates with the Crew of the MV Irene
Free the crew of the MV Irene
Sign Petition to Free Crew of MV Irene

Free Hostages From MV Irene EM

Responsibility missing in human export equation