The House of Cards in Free Fall

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By now you know that NH House Majority Leader DJ Bettencourt has resigned twice. The first time he announced he was getting married and starting a new job, so he'd be stepping down June 8, and wouldn't be running for reelection. The second time he resigned effective immediately, because it turns out he'd been falsifying intern work toward his law degree.

This editorial from seacoastonline.com really brings home the lies told by various members of the O'Brien junta. It's a good read. Here's part of it:

For those of you who might have been camping and unplugged from the news over Memorial Day weekend, Bettencourt announced Sunday that he will resign from the House immediately, after falsifying academic records submitted to the UNH School of Law.

Bettencourt had approached a fellow Republican lawmaker, Brandon Giuda, and told him he didn't have enough credits to graduate and needed an internship. Giuda gave him that internship but Betterncourt proved a no show, then lied about it to UNH. "I will never cover for a dishonest person," Giuda said.

The Concord Monitor reminds us that there are many questions still to be answered:

• It appears that O'Brien heard Giuda explain Bettencourt's fraud and was nonetheless willing to go along with the ruse that Bettencourt was leaving to take a job with the foundation. Was this an attempt to shield legislators and voters from the truth?

• Why didn't O'Brien demand an immediate resignation from Bettencourt?

• And when O'Brien heard Bettencourt's initial public explanation, was he troubled? If Giuda hadn't blown the whistle, would Bettencourt have avoided public scrutiny?

It seems to me, that if Bettencourt had done as Guida asked, Guida and O'Brien would have covered for him. That smacks of conspiracy. The voters of NH have a right to know the truth here.

In local news, James Pindell tweeted earlier today that Rep. Norman Tregenza of Madison has resigned, because he's moving out of the district. I hear he's been living out of the district for a while now. It must have been about to become public knowledge somehow - probably via real estate transactions in the newspaper.
There will be no special election - not with only about 10 days left in the legislative session.

Madison hasn't been represented for the last year and a half, so it won't make any difference. Tregenza spent his time in the House representing Ron Paul and the John Birch Society.