Rowland gives resignation as gov of CT

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Credit WTNH, ABC of New Haven.

 

Hartford-WTNH, June 21, 2004 Updated 6:14 PM ) _ Facing a possible impeachment, Gov. John Rowland tonight announced his resignation effective July 1st. Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell will take over leadership of the state.

 

"I acknowledge that my poor judgment has brought us here," Rowland said in a live news conference from the Governor's Residence.

 

The resignation would take effect at noon on July 1st. Jodi Rell would then become governor.

 

In a statement released Monday afternoon, Rell said "The people of Connecticut have been through much in the past several months. I will focus my energies on restoring confidence and trust in state government and I look forward to leading our state with a new sense of steadiness and determination."

 

After consulting with his lawyers over the weekend at the mansion. The governor decided that he had no choice left but to step down.

 

"I think it's taken a toll on him and his family, I think that probably he sat yesterday, on Father's Day, with his family and saw what it's doing to them and came to this conclusion."

 

Friday's Supreme Court decision, which said that the subpoena for him to testify before the committee investigating him was valid meant that technically the committee could have had him arrested for violating their subpoena.

 

"Given last week's activities and events, it's not entirely something that was unexpected," says Sen. Bill Aniskovich, ® Minority Leader Pro Tem.

 

If he was to answer the subpoena and testify, he ran the risk of jeopardizing himself in the federal investigation looking into the awarding of contracts by his administration.

 

Lt. Governor Jodi Rell was told of the decision this morning.

 

State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin Sullivan of West Hartford will become Lt. Governor at that time. "Let me just say that in the last analysis, governor Rowland has done the right thing for the people of Connecticut. History will remember him better for this decision, however awful and painful I know it has been for him and his family."

 

Rowland's closest aid over the past decade was Dean Pagani, who only recently stepped down as his chief of staff.

 

"He did have many successes as governor but there were pressures in his personal life that a lot of us didn't know about. That led him to make some very bad decisions," says Pagani.

 

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.

 

A special Committee of Inquiry has been looking into the possible impeachment of Rowland. A federal investigation is also underway.

 

Rowland would be the first Connecticut governor to resign under these circumstances.

 

Because of the impending resignation, the committee will now issue a report on the process and procedures of the investigation and the way the committee received information. They will present this information, but not determine what the conclusion would have been had Rowland not resigned.