AG let fellow Republican Michael Sylvia off the hook

To The Daily Sun,

In April 2017, the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office prepared an investigative report on N.H. State Representative Michael Sylvia of Belmont and concluded that Sylvia had perjured himself when he filed for the 2012 election by swearing under oath that he had been a New Hampshire resident for two years, as required by law. The sheriff referred the report to Attorney General Gordon MacDonald’s office for prosecution. (Perjury is a Class B felony with a potential prison sentence of 3 1/2 to 7 years.) After a brief investigation, MacDonald’s office sat on the matter and took no action for a year.

On April 25, 2018, I filed a Right-to-Know request on the Sylvia investigation pursuant to RSA-91A. The AG’s office produced documents in response and, on May 17, 2018, disposed of the matter by referring it to the N.H. House of Representatives (which was under Republican control), citing “lack of jurisdiction.” If the Attorney General, as the principal legal officer of the State of New Hampshire, does not have jurisdiction over the crime of perjury, I don't know who would.

Recently Sylvia wrote to this paper in response to a letter by Ruth Larson about Attorney General Gordon MacDonald. In his letter, Sylvia called the perjury charge against him a “fable” and proclaimed, “I challenge anyone with evidence … to come forward with the proof” that he had not resided in New Hampshire for the required two years prior to November 2012 (in other words, at least as far back as November 2010). But since the investigation began, he has never provided any evidence that proves he was a N.H. resident prior to April 2012.

Sylvia told the AG’s own investigator that he purchased his home in Belmont in June 2011 (which tax records confirm) “and moved from his previous home in New York into an RV and garage” on his Belmont property in April 2012. Neither of these two dates comes close to meeting the two-year requirement.

Sylvia’s attorney further reported to the AG that “It appears that Mr. Sylvia lived in Laconia, N.H. for a time prior to moving to Belmont, N.H.,” but provided no evidence of that fact.

At the AG’s request, the Laconia Police Department investigated the property at 77 Court Street in Laconia, which Sylvia apparently gave as a residence, and reported that the property was a karate dojo and storage unit and had never been used as a residence.

So the evidence produced to date shows either that Mr. Sylvia moved to N.H. in April of 2012 (his own statement to the AG) or (giving him every benefit of the doubt) in June of 2011 when he bought the Belmont property. If Mr. Sylvia has any evidence proving that he in fact lived in N.H. between November of 2010 and April 2012, then all he has to do is produce it. Crying “fake news” or “fable,” as he put it, is not the same as factual evidence.

(All of these documents, and more, may be reviewed at www.nhneedstoknow.com.)

It is clear that, instead of following the laws of New Hampshire that its attorneys were sworn to uphold, the Attorney General’s office under MacDonald’s leadership chose to protect one of its own and disposed of this matter by closing Sylvia’s file and sending it to the House of Representatives. Because of this failure of duty, Sylvia has not been charged with a crime and is still serving as a state representative.

Jane Westlake

Barnstead