Connecticut Governor Apologizes but Says He Won’t Step Down

Gov. John G. Rowland of Connecticut apologized Wednesday for lying about gifts he accepted, but pledged to remain in office despite a federal corruption probe and calls for his resignation or impeachment.

“I lied and there are no excuses,” the governor said in a six-minute speech televised throughout New England. “I should have known better, and I do know better.”

His apology came one day after federal criminal investigators served him with a grand jury subpoena in connection with a probe of improvements made to his vacation cottage.

Rowland, a three-term Republican governor, also met Tuesday with half a dozen legislative leaders who are considering whether to impeach him.

And hours before Rowland’s terse television address, Connecticut’s Quinnipiac University released a poll showing that 56% of state voters thought he should resign and that 13% of those polled said they considered the governor trustworthy.

Rowland’s troubles stem from $30,000 worth of repairs made in 1997 to his lakeside home in the western Connecticut community of Litchfield.

Rowland, 46, initially said he had paid for a hot tub, a cathedral ceiling and other renovations.

But on Dec. 12, he admitted that staff members and state contractors provided labor and gifts that improved the property.

The Tomasso Group, one of the construction companies that Rowland admitted did free work on his house, has been under scrutiny in a federal bid-rigging investigation.

As part of the bid-rigging probe, Rowland’s former deputy chief of staff, Lawrence Alibozek, pleaded guilty to accepting cash and gold. Alibozek is awaiting sentencing.

In 1997 Rowland became the first Connecticut governor to pay an ethics violation fine after accepting free concert tickets.

Last year, he was again fined by his state’s ethics commission for accepting reduced-rate vacation accommodations at homes in Florida and Vermont owned by the Tomasso Group.

In an interview on Wednesday, state Rep. Jim Amann -- Connecticut’s Democratic majority leader -- said a legislative caucus would convene today to consider whether to impeach the governor.

He said a legislative investigation also was possible.

“If I had to guess, I am sure the majority will say it is time to act,” Amann said. “Doing nothing is not going to be an option with my caucus.”

Under Connecticut law, however, impeachment is a prolonged and complicated process.

No governor has been impeached, Amann said, and the last time the process was invoked was more than 20 years ago, when a state judge was removed from office.

“It’s either going to be a Clinton-like impeachment or a Nixon-like hearing process,” Amann said.

In his televised speech, Rowland said that over recent weeks he had “wrestled with John Rowland the governor and the mess I’ve created.”

He insisted that he had provided no favors in exchange for the gifts he accepted, and “humbly” asked for the chance to redeem himself.