Puerto Rico's legislature starts impeachment process against Rosselló

Ricardo Rosselló.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Puerto Rico's legislature has started the impeachment process against Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, following widespread outrage over leaked sexist and homophobic private messages between Rosselló and close aides and advisers.

Johnny Mendez, speaker of the House of Representatives, commissioned an independent panel of lawyers to investigate the messages, and they determined that four felonies and one misdemeanor may have been committed during the group chats, attorney Luis Rodriguez-Rivera told Reuters. Since the messages were leaked earlier this month, there have been massive protests in Puerto Rico, with demonstrators demanding Rosselló step down. On Sunday, he said he would not seek re-election in 2020, but did not plan on leaving office early.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.