The Virgin Islands delegate scandal has reached fever pitch in Cleveland as John Yob testified for two and a half hours in front of the Contests Committee of the Republican National Committee on Sunday, July 10th.
The matter before the RNC is whether Yob’s allies that earned the most votes in the caucus will be seated. The Temporary Report by the Contests Committee ruled in their favor and overturned the illegal certification that was submitted by John Canegata.
There is another matter before the various committees as to whether Mr. Canegata will still be recognized as the Chairman of the Virgin Islands Republican Party. He is widely viewed as a scandalous figure who has submitted fraudulent documents to the Republican National Committee in the past and arguably again recently. Here is the argument against Mr. Canegata:
1) The Territorial Committee of the Virgin Islands voted against a controversial direct mail contract that allowed a fundraising firm to use the State Party non-profit mail permit for solicitation by other organizations that some people argue are so called ScamPAC’s. Mr. Canegata signed the contract despite the TC ruling and now has run the party in $350,000 in debt from the contract.
2) Mr. Canegata lost the support of the Territorial Committee because of the direct mail contract and therefore couldn’t gather the necessary votes to pass his preferred rules for the Presidential Caucus. He had a meeting set for September 29th, 2015 that he himself cancelled. After canceling the meeting, he sent in a signed document to the Republican National Committee claiming that the meeting took place that he himself actually cancelled. The RNC found out about his fraud and sent him a letter stating that his rules were not passed and therefore he had to revert to 2012 rules.
3) The USVI Presidential Caucus was held on March 10th and John Yob, Bruce Cole, George Logan, Erica Yob, Gwen Brady, and Lindsey Eilon received the most votes to fill the six available delegate positions. Mr. Canegata was upset that his preferred candidates lost and went through a string of different reasons why they should not be recognized. None of those reasons held water with the RNC Contests Committee, and they issued a strongly worded report that chastised him for his behavior and recognized the Yob allies as delegates.
4) By this time the Territorial Committee was very strongly against Mr. Canegata because of his corruption and issued a demand consistent with their rules for a Territorial Convention that would be independently run and would elect a new Chairman.
5) Mr. Canegata’s response was to hold a Territorial Committee Meeting with 63 minutes notice, on a different island, at night when there is no air travel between the islands. He used this meeting to grant himself additional powers to throw people out of the party. He then issued letters throwing the sitting National Committeeman, sitting Treasurer, former Chairmen, and former Executive Directors out of the Republican Party.
The Republican Naitonal Committee, Republican National Convention and convention related committees now have to determine how to handle Mr. Canegata’s alleged corruption so that this doesn’t continue to embarrass the Republican Party and the Virgin Islands into the foreseeable future.
They will also deliver a final ruling on the matter of whether Yob and his allies will be seated at the convention.
