By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero is seeking an investigation into Attorney General Douglas Moylan for alleged nepotism and mass hiring of unclassified employees.
The governor is seeking to appoint a special assistant attorney general and a special prosecutor to look into the hiring of the attorney general’s brother, Scott Moylan, the promotion of his fiancée, Sheenalyn Hawkins, and the employment of 70 unclassified employees at the OAG.
Also facing investigation is Chief Deputy Attorney General Joseph Guthrie, who was allegedly involved in the hiring of Scott Moylan and the promotion of Hawkins.
Jeffrey Moots, the governor’s legal counsel, said the job positions in question may constitute illegal expenditures and official misconduct that expose Moylan and Guthrie to civilian and criminal liability.
“Because you and Mr. Guthrie would be the subjects of the investigations and potential prosecutions related to these actions, and the governor has the
Organic Act responsibility to ensure enforcement of the related laws, it is
necessary that the governor appoint a special assistant attorney general and a special prosecutor to investigate and, as necessary, prosecute you and Mr.
Guthrie for violations Guam law,” Moots said in his letter to Moylan.
Moots was not convinced that Moylan had no hand in the hiring decision involving his brother.
He said Moylan’s communications with Guthrie revealed that while acknowledging his conflict of interest, the attorney general endorsed his brother's work experience.
“Suggesting that you did not influence your chief deputy to hire your brother, or that Mr. Guthrie would have hired or paid your brother $120,000 as a starting salary, higher than any other employees within the Government Corruption Division if he were not your brother, strains reason,” Moots told Moylan.
In Hawkins’ case, Moots noted that Moylan's fiancée, who was hired as a special
projects coordinator, had an initial salary of $61,796 a year. Her annual pay went up to $75,392 within a year since she was hired.
On Jan. 10, 2024, Hawkins was promoted to the position of chief of staff, with a corresponding salary of $127,602-- a raise of $52,210 from her most recent
salary and more than double her initial salary.
Moots said the Department of Administration’s regulations limit the salary associated with promotions within an agency. When promoted from one class
to another, the employee’s salary increase must be “closest to and not less than
a one-step increase in the pay grade held prior to promotion,” Moot said.
“A one-step increase in Ms. Hawkins's prior pay grade of N-10 would be an N-11, with a salary of $77,783. The closest salary in pay grade T to the N-11 salary is T-01, with a salary of $92,950, approximately $34,652 less than Ms. Hawkins's current salary.”
The governor's office also questioned Moylan's "illegal employment of over 70 unclassified employees in the OAG despite clear statutory limits allowing only four unclassified employees."
Moots asked Moylan to agree to the governor’s plan to appoint an investigator, arguing that the Guam Supreme Court last year ruled that the governor has the authority to initiate such an action if a conflict of interest exists.
“The people of Guam deserve a government that operates with transparency, integrity, and accountability. This request is a necessary step to ensure that all public officials are held to the highest ethical and legal standards,” the governor said.
“If the attorney general does not agree to the appointment of independent investigators, we will pursue all available legal remedies to uphold the rule of law," she added.
Leon Guerrero and Moylan have been at odds with each other, trading scathing barbs over a slew of issues.
The feud began escalating when Moylan declined to sign the governor's lease agreement with the Navy for the proposed use of Eagle's Field as the site of the new hospital.
Last year, the attorney general further infuriated the governor when he launched investigations into 22 GovGuam agencies and subsequently withdrew his legal services from these offices.
“The true irony is that the Attorney General has conducted a witch hunt against government employees for unfounded allegations of corruption, all of which have been dismissed, while corruption runs amok in his office,” said Krystal Paco-San Agustin, director of communications at Adelup.
Moylan has also challenged the governor's plan to build a hospital in Mangilao and use the American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The two officials also disagree over managing Guam's homelessness crisis.
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