(NOTE: This is an email sent to the Republican members from Speaker O’Brien.)
Dear Colleagues:
Early Friday morning, Brandon Giuda contacted me and said that D.J. Bettencourt had submitted to his law school false records relating to an internship that he had with Brandon. I met with both of them later that morning and it was clear to me that there was substance to that claim. Consequently, it was agreed that D.J. would immediately announce his resignation as Majority Leader and a House member effective at the end of the June 6 session and he would cite personal problems as the reason for his resignation. It was also understood that he would immediately contact the law school and begin the process of self-disclosing the wrong that he had committed.
After the announcement by D.J. of his resignation, Brandon again contacted me and said the reasons given by D.J. to the press for resigning were wrong and did not properly state why he was resigning. Brandon stated that it was necessary that Brandon publicly correct the record. As we have seen, he has done so.
Today, D.J. announced to the press that he is resigning immediately as a House member. I spoke with him a short time ago for the first time since Friday and he has confirmed his immediate resignation.
Now we are left with the consequences of this event. There will be those that say that D.J.’s failure and his resignation characterize our current majority. Others will say that it characterizes the leadership of our caucus. Neither is true.
D.J.’s error is personal to him and was a deeply wrong choice he made on his own. His mistake characterizes neither the caucus who elected him as majority leader nor the remaining members of leadership or of our caucus who have relied on him to join our efforts in bringing forward the Republican solutions our state so sorely needed and continues to need.
Indeed, it needs to be said, failure of this sort by a leader is particularly upsetting to all of us because it so clearly at odds with our party’s ideal, and our personal ideal, of selfless service of elected officials on behalf of our state. Moreover, it is a breach of the implicit promise any elected leader – whether elected by voters or in a caucus – to at all time be ethical and honest in not only our legislative efforts, but also in our personal lives. It also is at odds with the direction I gave to all House leadership at the beginning of the session that honesty, integrity and ethical behavior will be the foundation for all our efforts and that I would have no tolerance for any leader who departs from that foundational standard.
Our opposition of course decided early on that their agenda of overspending, robust taxes, and radical social change would not get them a majority, but that arguments of process, name-calling, and false allegations of wrongdoing will be adequate substitutes. Unfortunately, this episode will be used by them to pump life into what up to this point have been vapid arguments that have resonated only with their base. We need to take two steps to avoid this effort from becoming effective because of this episode.
The first thing we need to do is not engage in self-flagellation and ignore those in our caucus who will take delight in using this episode to gain for themselves the relevance they have lost over the prior two years. It is time to be united. We have made amazing gains for New Hampshire over the past two years and we should be proud of those gains. Those successes and not one member’s failure outside of his legislative activities are the characteristics of our efforts.
Secondly, we need to focus on the remainder of this session. We have two session days left – one this upcoming week and another on June 6. We will have votes on several constitutional amendments, pension reform, and many other items of important legislation. Much of this legislation will complete our efforts to keep our promises of 18 months ago to the people of New Hampshire. The people deserve us not being distracted from completing our agenda.
I will be in touch again with all of you as we work through the consequences of this episode and the remainder of our legislative term. If anyone of you has a question or concern, please get in touch with me. Send me an email or call me. However, most importantly, let us not turn on each other, but let us instead turn to the reforms for which we sought election and were charged by the people to pursue.
Finally, may I make one additional request of you? Please join me in bringing D.J. and his family into our prayers. He and they will face significant challenges and I hope that through the Lord he will find the strength of character and the support that will allow him to come to a life of meaning and grace.
-Bill O’Brien
Early Friday morning, Brandon Giuda contacted me and said that D.J. Bettencourt had submitted to his law school false records relating to an internship that he had with Brandon. I met with both of them later that morning and it was clear to me that there was substance to that claim. Consequently, it was agreed that D.J. would immediately announce his resignation as Majority Leader and a House member effective at the end of the June 6 session and he would cite personal problems as the reason for his resignation. It was also understood that he would immediately contact the law school and begin the process of self-disclosing the wrong that he had committed.
After the announcement by D.J. of his resignation, Brandon again contacted me and said the reasons given by D.J. to the press for resigning were wrong and did not properly state why he was resigning. Brandon stated that it was necessary that Brandon publicly correct the record. As we have seen, he has done so.
Today, D.J. announced to the press that he is resigning immediately as a House member. I spoke with him a short time ago for the first time since Friday and he has confirmed his immediate resignation.
Now we are left with the consequences of this event. There will be those that say that D.J.’s failure and his resignation characterize our current majority. Others will say that it characterizes the leadership of our caucus. Neither is true.
D.J.’s error is personal to him and was a deeply wrong choice he made on his own. His mistake characterizes neither the caucus who elected him as majority leader nor the remaining members of leadership or of our caucus who have relied on him to join our efforts in bringing forward the Republican solutions our state so sorely needed and continues to need.
Indeed, it needs to be said, failure of this sort by a leader is particularly upsetting to all of us because it so clearly at odds with our party’s ideal, and our personal ideal, of selfless service of elected officials on behalf of our state. Moreover, it is a breach of the implicit promise any elected leader – whether elected by voters or in a caucus – to at all time be ethical and honest in not only our legislative efforts, but also in our personal lives. It also is at odds with the direction I gave to all House leadership at the beginning of the session that honesty, integrity and ethical behavior will be the foundation for all our efforts and that I would have no tolerance for any leader who departs from that foundational standard.
Our opposition of course decided early on that their agenda of overspending, robust taxes, and radical social change would not get them a majority, but that arguments of process, name-calling, and false allegations of wrongdoing will be adequate substitutes. Unfortunately, this episode will be used by them to pump life into what up to this point have been vapid arguments that have resonated only with their base. We need to take two steps to avoid this effort from becoming effective because of this episode.
The first thing we need to do is not engage in self-flagellation and ignore those in our caucus who will take delight in using this episode to gain for themselves the relevance they have lost over the prior two years. It is time to be united. We have made amazing gains for New Hampshire over the past two years and we should be proud of those gains. Those successes and not one member’s failure outside of his legislative activities are the characteristics of our efforts.
Secondly, we need to focus on the remainder of this session. We have two session days left – one this upcoming week and another on June 6. We will have votes on several constitutional amendments, pension reform, and many other items of important legislation. Much of this legislation will complete our efforts to keep our promises of 18 months ago to the people of New Hampshire. The people deserve us not being distracted from completing our agenda.
I will be in touch again with all of you as we work through the consequences of this episode and the remainder of our legislative term. If anyone of you has a question or concern, please get in touch with me. Send me an email or call me. However, most importantly, let us not turn on each other, but let us instead turn to the reforms for which we sought election and were charged by the people to pursue.
Finally, may I make one additional request of you? Please join me in bringing D.J. and his family into our prayers. He and they will face significant challenges and I hope that through the Lord he will find the strength of character and the support that will allow him to come to a life of meaning and grace.
-Bill O’Brien
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