Rivera Schatz defends Martínez; denies fellow senator accepted bribes - P.R. Daily Sun - 11/11/09

Sounding like a criminal defense lawyer and at times shielding his colleague from reporters’ questions, Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz denied unequivocally Tuesday that his fellow New Progressive Party Sen. Héctor J. Martínez accepted bribes during the past administration to approve legislation concerning public safety. Rivera Schatz and Martínez had called a press conference on Tuesday morning to deny published reports of the existence of a federal grand jury investigation, but the briefing ended abruptly in the midst of the Senate president’s attack on a female newspaper reporter’s integrity. Rivera Schatz announced he had sent a letter to acting U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez asking her to deviate from the usual practice of neither confirming nor denying the existence of a grand jury investigation and to publicly say whether such a criminal query is being conducted on Martínez. The Senate president said that Martínez, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, continues to have his trust and has his “total and absolute support.” He had previously stated that Rodríguez deserves his “total support” and “those investigations deserve absolute credibility.” Gov. Fortuño declined to pass judgment, saying, “I don’t comment on rumors.” Meanwhile, Rivera Schatz said that Popular Democratic Party Sen. Sila Mari González, who used to date Martínez, reminded him of Mary Magdalene and needed forgiveness. González had said earlier that reports of the federal investigation did not surprise her. Rivera Schatz said that the reporter from El Vocero newspaper who wrote the article about the grand jury reportedly subpoenaing Senate documents deserves his “total respect”— unlike other journalists — but that he would not remove Martínez from his Senate committee chairmanships based solely on news reports. [Open link for full story and related stories.]