Over in the CNMI, the House Ethics Committee convened for the first time to address complaints made against local Representative Edwin Propst related to alleged sexual assault and alleged abuse and threats made to the governor's senior policy advisor.

Remedio R. Sablan, a resident of Saipan, said, "Before you clean other people's house, you have to clean your house first." He and other community members took to the mic to voice their view at the first House ethics committee. At the center of two complaints is Congressman Propst. 

In November, Grace Sablan Vaiagae, a counselor, sent a letter to the Speaker of the House requesting a probe into allegations of sexual assault and abuse by Propst, dating back to 20 years ago while he was working at Marianas High School and Northern Marianas College.

Lorraine Ada, the vice president of Women Of Destiny said, "Ed Propst needs to be held accountable and I pray that you leaders do what is right before God and the people who voted you into the office. Bring justice to all those victims and survivors."

Another advocate asked to silence the political noise and prioritize survivors, with Maisie Tenorio of the NMI Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence saying, "The case against Representative Propst highlighted many...lessons. But not most of all, that many survivors are not believed or supported."

The second complaint is related to a Facebook Live video where Propst allegedly made physical threats to the governor's senior policy advisor Robert Hunter. The committee went into an hour of executive session, closed to the public, and did not stream the hearing live.

When they came back into session, they voted to table the first complaint to seek more guidance and information, including reports from the Department of Public Safety.

They opted to move forward with the second complaint and investigate for official misconduct.

Previously Propst has said there were no complaints filed at the Public School System while he was working there. He has not addressed the allegations directly, but has apologized for things he has done in the past.