RG 002:025, Select Committee of Inquiry to Recommend Whether Sufficient Grounds Exist for the House of Representatives to Impeach Governor John G. Rowland Pursuant to Article Ninth of the State Constitution

Inventory of Records

Finding aid prepared by Zachary T. King and Paul E. Baran.

Copyright © 2008 by the Connecticut State Library

Historical Note

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.

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Scope and Content

Series 1, Administrative Files, documents the work of the Committee. It is further arranged into subseries. Standards and Procedures includes submissions from Steven F. Reich, counsel to the Select Committee of Inquiry, Ross H. Garber, counsel to the Office of the Governor, and William F. Dow, personal counsel to Governor John G. Rowland. Reports includes copies of the draft and final report of the Committee. Committee Meetings includes agendas, minutes and transcripts. Basic Legal Documents include various motions filed on behalf of the Committee, the Office of the Governor, and other individuals and entities including: Tomasso Brothers, Inc.; TBI Construction Company, LLC; Tunxis Management Company; Tenergy Water, LLC; Michael Tomasso; William Tomasso; Peter Ellef; Cocchiola Paving and Anthony Cocchiola. Correspondence includes incoming and outgoing correspondence primarily of the Committee co-chairmen John Wayne Fox and Arhthur J. O'Neill and counsel Steven F. Reich. Included are copies of e-mails. Civil Summonses are lawsuits against the Committee by various plaintiffs including: Peter Ellef; Robert V. Matthews; TBI Construction Company, LLC; Tunxis Management Company; Tenergy Water, LLC; Michael Tomasso; William Tomasso; Cocchiola Paving, Inc.; Anthony Cocchiola; Mark Wertheim; Patrick J. Delahunty; Vincent J. DeRosa; Tunxis Plantation Country Club; and Michael H. Cicchetti. There is also one summons for suit of the Committee against the Freedom of Information Commission. Subpoenas include copies of subpoenas served to over one hundred individuals and entities. Hearing Exhibits are duplicates of Series 3. Depositions include transcripts of the five individuals deposed: Michael H. Cicchetti; Mary Ann Hanley; Jo McKenzie; David O'Leary; and Marc S. Ryan. Freedom of Information Act includes requests, hearing notices, decisions and appeals.

Also included in the Administrative Files are Committee membership lists, media advisories, news articles, personnel and business records.

Series 2, Subpoenaed Documents contain unredacted documents submitted to the Committee from various individuals, state agencies, organizations, and businesses.

Series 3, Evidentiary Hearing Exhibits were taken from subpoenaed documents. There are two duplicate sets of exhibits.

Series 4, Evidentiary Hearing Videotapes are present for all but the second hearing day. The number of copies for each hearing day range from two to nine. There is also a video disc of a news briefing following the State Ethics Commission Meeting on September 29, 2004.

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Arrangement

Arranged in four series:

Series 1, Administrative Files, 1978-2004, is further arranged into the following subseries: Procedures and Standards; Membership; Reports; Committee Meetings; Basic Legal Documents; Correspondence; Media Advisories; Civil Summonses; Subpoenas; Hearing Exhibits; Depositions; Freedom of Information Act; News Articles; Personnel; and Business Records. The standards and procedures, reports, committee meetings, basic legal documents, correspondence, media advisories, civil summonses, and news articles are arranged chronologically. Hearing exhibits are arranged numerically by assigned exhibit number. Subpoenas and depositions are arranged alphabetically.

Series 2, Subpoenaed Documents, circa 1995-2004, are arranged by Bates number. Each individual and entity subpoenaed was assigned an alphabetic code. Each piece of paper received was stamped with a Bates number comprised of the code for the party that submitted it concatenated with a number. The first sheet of paper submitted was 00001 and the number for each subsequent sheet was incremented by one. For example, there are five pieces of paper submitted by Anthony Autorino. The first piece of paper was stamped AA00001, the second was stamped AA00002, etc. The Department of Transportation submitted a large amount of documents too late for them to be assigned Bates numbers. These documents are unprocessed at the end of the series.

Series 3, Evidentiary Hearing Exhibits, circa 1989-2004 are arranged numerically by the assigned exhibit number.

Series 4, Evidentiary Hearing Videotapes, 2004 are arranged chronologically.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Series 1, Administrative Files, subseries Subpoenas is restricted. Some subpoenas include the social security number of the person serving the subpoena. Subpoenas to financial institutions may contain account information. Please contact State Archives staff for assistance.

Series 2, Subpoenaed Documents (entire) is restricted because it contains personal information such as social security numbers and financial account numbers. Please see the Alternate Form Available section below.

These records are stored at an off-site facility and therefore may not be available on a same-day basis.

See the Rules and Procedures for Researchers Using Archival Records and Secured Collections policy.

Restrictions on Use

See the Reproduction and Publications of State Library Collections policy.

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Related Material

None.

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Index Terms

Organizations:

Persons:

Subjects:

Document Types:

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Administrative Information

Alternative Form Available

Redacted versions of Series 2, Subpoenaed Documents are available on a hard drive through the Law and Legislative Reference unit. [CSL call number StLib Law Vault Conn Doc G253r]

Provenance

The evidentiary hearing exhibits and videotapes were deposited at the State Library in 2004. The administrative files and subpoenaed documents were deposited in 2006.

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