THE statements made by Ben Pangelinan in his press release, which he released and communicated to others, clearly constitute defamation. Ben Pangelinan is not protected by any legal, regulatory or constitutional positions. Clearly, it was not a statement or any issued writing that occurred on the floor of the Legislature while in session, so the Speech and Debate Clause is not applicable.

It is clear that Ben Pangelinan has singled out Mr. Lee Webber despite the fact that 21 other people attended the Russian International Travel Expo (PITE) event. This federally-funded program is one that is intended to accomplish several objectives, including growing our tourism base.

It is most unfortunate that Ben Pangelinan continues a clear pattern of behavior of accusations of others while not once offering viable solutions. Despite the fact that Ben Pangelinan yelled at various individuals over the years, including General Bice at a public hearing which is one of several acts caught on video, this is a clear indication that Ben Pangelinan continues to resort to attacks on the character of people, rather than focus on the serious problems our people face every single day.

One has to ask the serious question whether this action by Ben Pangelinan is yet another serious attack on the character of another, as a diversion from his own poor decisions made as an elected senator. Ben Pangelinan was clearly wrong on the positions he made when he voted against tax refunds, he was clearly wrong in the preparation of several budgets and has demonstrated a demeaning and unreasonable way when handling certain issues. People can agree to disagree, but that does not give anyone the right, especially an elected official, to defame the character of any individual. It is not legal, it is not moral, and as an elected official, Ben Pangelinan maintains a very high fiduciary duty not only when he acts, but also to insure that he tells the truth, which in this case, he failed to do.

Ben Pangelinan cannot in any manner whatsoever prove that the statements he made about Mr. Webber have any rationale connection to the conclusion he wrote in his press release. Despite the fact that Mr. Webber is a “public figure,” the law is very clear that liability attaches when one makes false statements about another with malice and all disregard for the truth.

Also, Ben Pangelinan made no legally required effort to determine the truth. Ben Pangelinan could have easily called Mr. Webber, or for that matter any of the 21 people on the list of attendees, to insure the truth of his statements. We ask Ben Pangelinan if he called anyone on the list and also to request any documents from anyone on the list, prior to making the statement, to determine if his statements were true or false. There is no moral or legal nexus between the statement Ben Pangelinan made about Mr. Webber and the conclusion of Ben Pangelinan’s statement.

The State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Grant seeks to promote President Obama’s National Export Initiative of doubling U.S. trade and exports within the next five years. Growing our tourism industry, especially with the recent decision to allow Russian visitors, falls under this grant. This federally-funded grant was awarded to GEDA with $136,000 through a competitive Small Business Administration grant. Also, as Ben Pangelinan appears to not be aware, there was a public forum to educate those interested in the grant, which Mr. Webber attended.

The reality of all of this is that Ben Pangelinan would rather focus on politically motivated attacks rather than focus on the many serious problems facing our people, including the creation of more jobs and other initiatives that encourage, rather than discourage our people.

Grant recipients are selected on a first come, first serve basis. Both STEP Grant recipients have been working with GEDA since at least the end of February and have spent hours at GEDA offices submitting the required forms and documents necessary for STEP Grant assistance. The timing of the entire issue that Ben Pangelinan raises is suspicious, since much of the activity related to the STEP Grant occurred prior to any relevant timing of what he has sought to connect to TakeCare. This has nothing to do with Mr. Webber, this has nothing to do with TakeCare, but it clearly and unequivocally has everything to do with Ben Pangelinan intentionally, and with malice, not telling the truth.

Thank you.

Peter R. Sgro Jr.,
Attorney for Mr. Lee Webber
Tamuning