Puerto Rico governor says chief of staff, deputy chief of staff will leave in August
Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González announced July 21 that her chief of staff, Francisco Domenech, and deputy chief of staff, Itza García, are expected to step down in August.
The planned departures involve two senior members of the governor’s executive staff and come amid corruption allegations that both Domenech and García have denied. The announcement identifies a planned personnel change, not a completed departure or a finding by an investigative or judicial body.
Allegation centers on permit-office appointment
García has been accused of pressuring an official to appoint the wife of Politank’s president to Puerto Rico’s Office of Permit Management. The accusation has not been established as a finding in the approved reporting, and García has denied the corruption allegations.
Domenech founded Politank, a government-relations firm, and also denied the allegations. The matter therefore raises questions about the relationship between a senior official’s connection to a government-relations firm and an allegation involving a public appointment.
The Office of Permit Management is the government office named in the reported allegation. The available reporting does not establish that the alleged pressure occurred or that an appointment resulted from it.
Questions about federal funds
Federal legislators have questioned whether federal funds were being used appropriately in connection with the broader matter. Those questions are not a determination that money was misused.
The approved source material includes no audit, court ruling or official determination finding that federal funds were improperly spent. It also does not establish that criminal charges or an official ethics finding had been issued as of Aug. 3.
That distinction is significant because the reported allegations, the questions from federal legislators and the planned staff departures are separate stages. The July 21 announcement was an executive-branch personnel action; it was not described as an enforcement action, court review or final ethics determination.
Next confirmed step is August departure
The next confirmed step in the reporting is the expected August departure of Domenech and García. González’s announcement set out the timing for the two officials to leave their posts, but the available packet does not provide a specific August date or identify successors.
The departures place attention on accountability within Puerto Rico’s executive branch, including questions about lobbying influence, public appointments and the use of federal funds. But the underlying accusations remain unresolved in the approved reporting, and both officials have denied them.