It appears an investigation by the House Committee on Ethics involving Congressman Michael San Nicolas is on the move in the nation's capital. In 2019 his former staffer John Paul Manuel filed a complaint against the delegate, alleging he converted campaign funds for personal use had an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, both of which are violations of House rules.

In June of 2020 the House Ethics Committee authorized the formation of an investigative subcommittee to look into those allegations as well as whether the congressman disclosed information to the federal election commission that may be false, among other things.

After the congressman was re-elected the House Ethics Committee in May 2021 then reauthorized the formation of the ISC in the 117th Congress.

According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Guam Legislature's Central Office, Manuel apparently took annual leave to travel to the nation's capitol last week. Manuel currently is a staffer for Senator Pedo Terlaje.

Included in the documents from Central Office was a letter dated February 11, 2022 from the House Committee on Ethics Director of Investigations Brittney Pescatore. Manuel was requested to be interviewed on March 2 in Washington, D.C. According to his leave form Manuel requested annual leave from March 1-4.

He was not available for comment and there's good reason. According to Pescatore's letter he was asked to refrain from discussing his interview with anyone other than ISC. Interestingly, she also requested to maintain the confidentiality of this actual letter (which was released by the legislature) to safeguard the integrity of the investigation.

KUAM News did reach out to San Nicolas for a comment, but he declined.

However in 2019, he said the allegations stemmed from a number of various local government officials who are currently under an active FBI investigation. He also posted on Facebook in 2019 alleging Democratic Party leaders orchestrated the allegations against him calling it dirty local politics.

The party and the administration denied those allegations.

Meanwhile, as we head into another election season, the Democratic Party has already publicly endorsed the incumbent team of Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio.

Congressman San Nicolas has not made a formal announcement but has said he is seriously considering running for governor.