In the context of the recent arrests of two representatives and the court battles for the legislative Assembly make employee salaries available to the public, the federal attorney for the district of Puerto Rico, William Stephen Muldrow, admitted that the transparency that the leaders of both chambers have denied could have served as a deterrent to acts of corruption.
“The more information the people have, so that everyone can see what’s going on, the better for everyone,” Muldrow said during a press conference reviewing his first year in command of the operations of the Justice Department American on the island.
While acknowledging that there are rules to protect the confidentiality of certain sensitive information, Muldrow acknowledged that ultimately, access to data such as the presidents of the Senate and the House of Representatives, Thomas Rivera Schatz Y Carlos “Johnny” Méndez, respectively, have refused to provide is a “political issue.”
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“At the federal level that’s something you can check, from a congressman in Florida who works in the office and how much they pay him. That is online. More information to the public, when it does not cause harm to people, I think it is always better, ”added the head of the federal prosecutor’s office in Puerto Rico.
At the moment, the Court of San Juan considers a writ of mandamus submitted by Eva Prados, candidate for a chamber seat for the Citizen Victory Movement, against the Senate to force the president of that body to disclose the salaries of the employees of the offices of all senators for the past eight years.
The Senate lawyers, meanwhile, argue that the salary of the employees is part of the personal file, documentation that the internal regulations define as confidential.
For its part, in mid-September, and after the arrests of the New Progressive representatives María Milagros “Tata” Charbonier Y Nelson Del Valle, Méndez issued an administrative order that also prohibits access to personnel files in the lower house.
Long live the investigations
Muldrow did not want to specify at what stage additional investigations into the Legislature are or when “results” would be produced, but hinted that the US Department of Justice continues to investigate.
“I am not talking about whether we are investigating or have something pending. But I think you can assume that there is other research because we are putting a lot of resources in that area. I don’t announce promises, I announce results. If a person in the community has any information on that, it is always better to arrive sooner rather than later. I can’t say when you are going to see results, but you are going to see results, ”Muldrow stressed.
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