AVB
Jesus of Cool, I'm bad, I'm nationwide
HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland will announce his resignation Monday night, amid a federal corruption investigation and a growing move to impeach him, two sources told The Associated Press.
The governor was planning to announce his resignation on a live television address to the state at 6 p.m., an administration official and another source familiar with the situation told the AP on Monday. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
The governor's plans to resign were first reported Monday morning by WTNH-TV.
Rowland's resignation would elevate Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell to governor. Rowland, 47, a Republican easily re-elected to a third term in 2002, admitted late last year that he lied about accepting gifts and favors from friends, state contractors and state employees.
State and federal authorities have been investigating those allegations, and a special House committee also has been considering whether to recommend Rowland's impeachment. The committee was scheduled to begin its third week of hearings later Monday.
The announcement comes several days after the state Supreme Court ruled that the legislative panel could compel the governor to testify. Rowland was once the nation's youngest governor — he was 37 when first elected in 1994 — and considered a rising star in the GOP. He is a former chairman of the Republican Governors Association and was rumored to be considered for several positions in the Bush administration.
But 2003 began badly for Rowland and rapidly descended into nightmare. Last March, Rowland's former deputy chief of staff, Lawrence Alibozek, pleaded guilty to federal charges he steered state business to certain contractors in exchange for gold and cash. That plea — and the governor's subsequent acknowledgment that a federal grand jury had subpoenaed stacks of documents relating to several major projects and a politically connected contractor — set the stage for a spring and summer of embarrassing revelations about discounted vacations he had taken at homes owned by people doing business with the state.
One of those people was William Tomasso, a principal in the contracting firm under scrutiny by the grand jury. Rowland paid $9,000 to the state Ethics Commission to settle its probe of the vacation stays. Two months later he paid $6,000 to the state Elections Enforcement Commission to settle a complaint over charges he made to a state Republican Party credit card. Rowland admitted no wrongdoing in either case.
But in mid-December Rowland admitted he had lied about who paid for improvements to a one-story, lakeside cottage he purchased in 1997. Asked Dec. 2 about who paid for the work, Rowland insisted he and his wife, Patricia, had taken out several loans to cover the bills.
Ten days later he issued a statement apologizing to the Capitol press corps and admitting friends, employees and some state contractors — including the Tomassos — had paid for renovations, including a new heating system, a hot tub, work on the kitchen, ceiling and deck.
Before being elected governor, Rowland had served three terms in Congress and two in the state House.
Only seven governors in U.S. history have been impeached and removed from office. The last was Arizona's Evan Mecham, a conservative former car dealer whose campaign accepted a secret $350,000 loan from developers. A campaign finance charge was dismissed, but the unpopular political outsider was impeached in 1988 on an unrelated charge of trying to thwart an investigation into an alleged death threat made by a state official.
The governor was planning to announce his resignation on a live television address to the state at 6 p.m., an administration official and another source familiar with the situation told the AP on Monday. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
The governor's plans to resign were first reported Monday morning by WTNH-TV.
Rowland's resignation would elevate Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell to governor. Rowland, 47, a Republican easily re-elected to a third term in 2002, admitted late last year that he lied about accepting gifts and favors from friends, state contractors and state employees.
State and federal authorities have been investigating those allegations, and a special House committee also has been considering whether to recommend Rowland's impeachment. The committee was scheduled to begin its third week of hearings later Monday.
The announcement comes several days after the state Supreme Court ruled that the legislative panel could compel the governor to testify. Rowland was once the nation's youngest governor — he was 37 when first elected in 1994 — and considered a rising star in the GOP. He is a former chairman of the Republican Governors Association and was rumored to be considered for several positions in the Bush administration.
But 2003 began badly for Rowland and rapidly descended into nightmare. Last March, Rowland's former deputy chief of staff, Lawrence Alibozek, pleaded guilty to federal charges he steered state business to certain contractors in exchange for gold and cash. That plea — and the governor's subsequent acknowledgment that a federal grand jury had subpoenaed stacks of documents relating to several major projects and a politically connected contractor — set the stage for a spring and summer of embarrassing revelations about discounted vacations he had taken at homes owned by people doing business with the state.
One of those people was William Tomasso, a principal in the contracting firm under scrutiny by the grand jury. Rowland paid $9,000 to the state Ethics Commission to settle its probe of the vacation stays. Two months later he paid $6,000 to the state Elections Enforcement Commission to settle a complaint over charges he made to a state Republican Party credit card. Rowland admitted no wrongdoing in either case.
But in mid-December Rowland admitted he had lied about who paid for improvements to a one-story, lakeside cottage he purchased in 1997. Asked Dec. 2 about who paid for the work, Rowland insisted he and his wife, Patricia, had taken out several loans to cover the bills.
Ten days later he issued a statement apologizing to the Capitol press corps and admitting friends, employees and some state contractors — including the Tomassos — had paid for renovations, including a new heating system, a hot tub, work on the kitchen, ceiling and deck.
Before being elected governor, Rowland had served three terms in Congress and two in the state House.
Only seven governors in U.S. history have been impeached and removed from office. The last was Arizona's Evan Mecham, a conservative former car dealer whose campaign accepted a secret $350,000 loan from developers. A campaign finance charge was dismissed, but the unpopular political outsider was impeached in 1988 on an unrelated charge of trying to thwart an investigation into an alleged death threat made by a state official.
