Select Committee of Inquiry records

A press report on November 25, 2003 raised questions about who paid for renovations to Governor John G. Rowland's cottage on Bantam Lake in Litchfield, Connecticut. Governor Rowland denied that free work had been done at the cottage. On December 12, 2003, Governor Rowland issued a statement admitting that he had provided inaccurate and incomplete information about the cottage work. He apologized to the press and the citizens of Connecticut and disclosed that friends, members of his staff, state employees and state contractors had paid for or provided free work. He denied that any of these individuals or entities received any benefit from his office or the state in exchange for their involvement at the cottage. A wide range of other issues came under media scrutiny, including the lease and sale of a Washington, D. C. condominium and gifts and vacations he had received or taken.

On January 14, 2004, Speaker of the House Moira K. Lyons (D-Stamford) announced that the House of Representatives would form a bipartisan committee to consider whether to recommend Governor Rowland's impeachment. On January 26, 2004, House Resolution 702 formally established the Select Committee of Inquiry. Lyons appointed Arthur J. O'Neill (R-Southbury) and John Wayne Fox (D-Stamford) as co-chairmen. The Resolution did not limit the scope of the Committee's inquiry, but did set an initial deadline for the work of April 14, 2004. This deadline was extended to May 5, 2004, and later to June 30, 2004.

On February 11, 2004, the Select Committee retained Steven F. Reich of the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP to serve as Special Counsel. The Committee then adopted rules and procedures, defined the scope and priorities of investigation, and identified and considered appropriate standards for impeachment. On February 19, 2004, the Committee adopted procedures governing the receipt and presentation of evidence. It issued its first document subpoenas on February 26, 2004. In all, the Committee issued a total of 140 document subpoenas, conducted hundreds of witness interviews and gathered approximately 409,000 pages of documents. On March 19, 2004, the Committee adopted rules governing depositions. It deposed five individuals: Mary Ann Hanley, Michael Cicchetti, Marc Ryan, David O'Leary and Jo McKenzie.

On February 26, 2004, the Committee served document subpoenas on the Governor and Mrs. Rowland but the documents were not submitted. On April 30, 2004, it issued further subpoenas to the Governor and Mrs. Rowland to appear before the Committee to testify regarding their failure to comply with the document subpoenas. Neither appeared nor designated a representative to testify on their behalf. The Committee ordered its Special Counsel to draft an article of impeachment against the Governor based on his failure to cooperate with the inquiry. The article of impeachment was presented to the Committee on May 14, 2004 but while the Committee accepted the draft article, it deferred its consideration until the conclusion of the inquiry.

The Committee faced a number of obstacles. The ongoing federal grand jury investigation into alleged misconduct in the Rowland Administration limited the Committee's ability to gather information. Many of the witnesses whose testimony and documents were relevant to the inquiry were also integral to the federal investigation. A number of key witnesses invoked their constitutional right against self-incrimination and declined to respond to the Committee's demands for information. The Committee also faced resistance in the form of litigation challenging its subpoena authority, including litigation filed by the Governor's Office. On May 18, 2004, the Select Committee served a subpoena on the Governor requiring his testimony as the first witness at public evidentiary hearings. On June 1, 2004, the Office of the Governor filed a complaint in Hartford Superior Court for injunctive and declaratory relief against the Committee, seeking a ruling that the subpoena violated the constitution separation of powers.

The Superior Court denied the relief sought by the Governor's Office. The Governor's Office then sought certification of the matter directly to the Connecticut Supreme Court. On June 18, 2004, the Supreme Court denied the Governor's motion to quash the Committee's Subpoena. As a result, on June 21, 2004, Governor Rowland announced his resignation from office, effective July 1, 2004. Due to the resignation, the Committee suspended its evidentiary hearings and its final report made no recommendation on whether Governor Rowland's conduct warranted impeachment.

Source Final report of the Select Committee of Inquiry pursuant to House Resolution 702.