Puerto Rico governor refuses to quit amid scandal
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Facing intense pressure to resign, Gov. Ricardo A. Rossello addressed Puerto Rico on Tuesday — the morning after street protests shook the capital of San Juan — and refused to step down, despite what he acknowledged is widespread public discontent.
“I understand perfectly that this was a message against me personally,” he said at the governor’s mansion. But, he added: “I’m going to keep working for the people of Puerto Rico.” The ongoing political convulsions on the island, including federal corruption arrests last week, prompted the White House to contend Tuesday that President Donald Trump had been right in the past to call Rossello’s administration incompetent. Rossello
In response to the White House, Rossello said that corruption has plagued administrations everywhere, not just in Puerto Rico. He conceded it has been a problem “historically” on the island.
Rossello brushed off questions about his possible impeachment, suggesting that would be an overreaction.
“I have not committed illegal acts,” he said. “I committed inappropriate acts.”
He was referring to a group chat that the governor and 11 of his top aides maintained on the messaging app Telegram. Hundreds of pages of messages from the chat were leaked over the weekend.
In the Telegram chat, the men wrote derisively and often profanely about an array of people.
Rossello said Tuesday that his executive team had conducted a “legal analysis” to determine that nothing that was discussed in the chat was illegal. But, confusingly, he also characterized the analysis as one that was done for him personally and that would not be made public.
Rossello defended the actions of police during Monday night’s tense demonstrations, which culminated in three hours of clashes between protesters and officers, who launched tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets into a crowd of several thousand people.
Authorities said 21 police officers were hurt.
More demonstrations were planned for Wednesday.