IMPEACHMENT PROCESS AGAINST GOVERNOR UNDERWAY

SAN JUAN Puerto Rico’s legislature has begun an impeachment process against Governor Ricardo Rossello after an investigation into leaked chat messages found crimes may have been committed during the conversations, a senior legislator said on Wednesday.

Rossello, a first-term governor for the U.S. territory, has resisted calls to step down over a scandal dubbed “Rickyleaks.” Media, including El Nuevo Día newspaper, cited unnamed sources as saying his resignation was imminent.

“The impeachment process has started,” said Johnny Mendez, speaker of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives and a member of Rossello’s party who was targeted in the chats.

An independent panel of lawyers commissioned by Mendez to investigate the offensive messages found four felonies and one misdemeanour may have been committed during the Telegram message group chats, one of the lawyers, Luis Rodríguez-Rivera, said in an email.

The governor, who is serving in his first elected office, is weighing his political future after almost two weeks of protests demanding his resignation, his spokesman Anthony Maceira said in a text message.

A string of Rossello’s closest aides have stepped down as prosecutors investigated the scandal. The governor’s chief of staff Ricardo Llerandi resigned on Tuesday, citing concerns for the safety of his family.

The protests in the capital San Juan were spurred by the publication on July 13 of chat messages on the messaging app Telegram, in which Rossello and aides used profane language to describe female politicians and gay Puerto Rican celebrities, including Ricky Martin.

Reuters