United States ex rel. Richards v. De Leon Guerrero

Lorenzo de Leon Guerrero, Governor and Custodian of Records for the Department of Finance of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (“CNMI” or “Commonwealth”), appeals the district court’s enforcement of an administrative subpoena mandating the release to the Inspector General of the United States Interior Department of tax *751 records necessary to conduct an audit of the CNMI pursuant to the Insular Areas Act, 48 U.S.C. § 1681b. The Governor challenges the district court’s determination that enforcement of the subpoena does not offend the Commonwealth’s right of local self-government as defined under Sections 108 and 105 of the Covenant. In addition, taxpayers Herman S. Sabían and Antonio T. Salas appeal the district court’s denial of their motion to intervene in the proceedings. We affirm.

I. Background

Rota, Tinian and Saipan, the most populated islands of the Northern Marianas, lie directly north of Guam. For over three hundred years, the Northern Marianas and Guam were Spanish colonies sharing common languages, religion, and culture. The political ties between the Northern Marianas and Guam were eventually broken by the Spanish-American War of 1898, with Guam…