Rosa Emilia Rodríguez

Rosa Emilia Rodríguez is the United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. A career prosecutor, first in the Puerto Rico Department of Justice and subsequently in the U.S. Attorney's office in San Juan, she has been nominated by President George W. Bush as United States Attorney. Her nomination is pending consideration in the United States Senate, after being approved unanimously in the Judiciary Committee, where at least one unidentified senator had placed a seven-day 'hold' on her nomination. Prior to the end of her 120-day appointment by the Attorney General as acting United States Attorney, the judges of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico authorized Chief Judge José A. Fusté to extend her appointment for four years, until October 12, 2011. This term can only be cut short if her nomination is voted down by the United States Senate, or President Bush or his successor appoints another person as acting U.S. Attorney.

Appointed by Governor Carlos Romero Barceló as a local district attorney in 1979, Ms. Rodríguez subsequently crossed over to the federal level, serving in different prosecutorial and managerial roles within the United States Attorney's office. Her office is currently in charge of a federal grand jury investigation regarding the finances of Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá's campaign committees when running for Resident Commissioner in 1999-2000 and for Governor in 2003-04. Her office was also responsible for the indictments of over 90 physicians accused of participating in a conspiracy to illegally license MD's who had not passed Puerto Rico's medical licensure tests and of ten Puerto Rico Police Departmernt agents charged with drug trafficking, planting false evidence and fabricating cases against innocent citizens, as part of an ongoing police corruption investigation.

Current Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño accused Acevedo Vilá of using public funds to finance a lobbying campaign to prevent Ms. Rodríguez from obtaining confirmation in the United States Senate. In response, Puerto Rico Senate President Kenneth McClintock on July 20, 2007 ordered a legislative investigation into the matter. During Senate hearings, Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration director Eduardo Bhatia admitted that government resources were used to pay Republican lobbyist Charles Black to hold meetings regarding Rodríguez' nomination.

Sources

*http://www.endi.com/noticia/puerto_rico_hoy/noticias/afinan_detalles_para_pesquisar_el_uso_de_cabilderos/250795
*http://www.vocero.com/noticias.asp?s=Locales&n=96408
*http://www.vocero.com/noticias.asp?s=Locales&n=96396