Former Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) Secretary Sebastián Negrón Reichard submitted a 58-page sworn declaration to the Puerto Rico Senate that sustains and explains his allegations of improper pressures from Secretary of Governance Francisco Domenech and La Fortaleza. The affidavit puts under oath the accusations Negrón Reichard has made since resigning in May, when he and more than 10 senior DDEC officials left the agency citing a breakdown of trust with the governor’s office.
Domenech rejected the declaration as "desperate" and said he had already filed two affidavits of his own containing what he characterized as objective facts supported by government documentation. The filing lands in an oversight process that was already in motion: the Senate approved an investigation into Domenech on June 19, and the Department of Justice referred the complaints to the Panel on the Independent Special Prosecutor (PFEI) on June 23, where two special prosecutors had been assigned to the matter.