I’ve been checking the EC hearing calendar daily as the one for Gould’s judge appointment is tomorrow morning, erroneously assuming that Formella would get his sometime shortly after that. Then I stumbled upon a quiet little nugget while reading a NH Journal article on the embattled Karen Liot Hill (KLH) announcing that she’s recusing herself from next Wednesday’s vote on Formella’s reappointment. Think of that meme where a car in the left lane of 93 makes a sharp turn onto an exit ramp crossing other lanes of traffic. Rather than finish reading the article, my thoughts went straight to “wait a minute, why hasn’t a hearing been scheduled with public comment?”
I fired off an email to Councilor Wheeler, who has a pattern of answering emails in the evening, and his secretary, Meagan Rose, who keeps ordinary office hours. I had a reply in 15 minutes because Meagan is a customer service extraordinaire as always. Here’s what I asked:
“Councilor Wheeler & Meagan, whoever answers first:
Good afternoon. I read a NH Journal article on KLH that said the vote on Formella’s reappointment is going to be next Wednesday and was taken by surprise as I thought there would be a hearing and opportunity for the public to comment on what kind of attorney general he’s been for the past 4 years and 5 months. Because Gould’s hearing is tomorrow, I had thought Formella would get his sometime after that.
Is there a reason why there will be no hearing?
Admittedly, I was not paying attention the last time an attorney general’s appointment was renewed. In fact, it might be Kelly Ayotte who was the last person in that situation. Meagan previously told me the rules regarding hearings and public comment vary for each office that’s appointed by the governor. Did Formella have a hearing and public comment in the spring of 2021?”
And here’s what Meagan said in her answer:
Thank you for reaching out- I hope all is well.
Attorney General Formella was nominated to serve as the Attorney General on March 3, 2021. The Executive Council held a public hearing on his nomination March 18, 2021 (the audio is online at this link: https://www.sos.nh.gov/administration/governor-executive-council/hearings )
It is atypical for the Executive Council to hold a public hearing for the reappointment of a person who has been serving in the position and already underwent a public hearing. The council is not prohibited from holding another public hearing upon a nomination of reappointment, but generally speaking, it is extremely rare, at this point, for that to happen, unless of course, it is required by law (the Council is required by law to hold a public hearing on nominees to serve on the Public Utilities Commission, even if it’s a reappointment).
I hope this information is helpful.
It is what it is, so don’t shoot the messenger. However, it’s my observation as an ordinary commoner that many people were robbed of an opportunity to criticize an important member of the ruling class. Let’s call attention to some of them. I’ll start with Laurie Ortolano, Laura Colquhoun and other city hall watchdogs that are big critics of the Public Integrity Unit of Formella’s office. And what about all the election security reformers and activists? Recently, Karen Thoman emailed Scanlan’s office for guidance on handling 8 Weare voters that are registered at a campground open only May 15 to October 15, dates that don’t include NOVEMBER or late winter, when town elections are usually had. Her email was given to Attorney Brendan O’Donnell, chief of the Election Law Unit in Formella’s office. O’Donnell said the following:
“Domicile for voting purposes is defined as “that one place where a person, more than any other place, has established a physical presence and manifests an intent to maintain a single continuous presence for domestic, social, and civil purposes relevant to participating in democratic self-government.” In short, domicile is primarily determined by intent coupled with a physical presence. New Hampshire law does not require a person to spend a certain amount or proportion of their time residing at a particular address to establish domicile there.“
Then there’s the 9 victims who suffered 20 months of lawfare following their 10/13/21 arrests with Formella in the room watching! After one of their many Kangaroo Court hearings, Attorney Gens told the defendants and their supporters that only the attorney general has the power to drop the charges. Charges (for most of them) were dropped on 6/27/23 with “null process” as the reason.
Saving the most vulnerable victims for last, what about the squadrons of people who have been “kids in the system” or inmates of the YDC? Yeah, I said “inmates” because they couldn’t just walk out the door and leave. Formella has plenty of people to answer to and I’m disappointed on their behalf that they were not given the opportunity to go on record with their input before he’s rubber stamped into his 2nd term.
