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The Senate Hearings of Immigration were supposed to continue as normal today, but the witnesses who were called, showed up only to find out that the Committee no longer wished to question them. 

Those witnesses, as we told you last week, were supposed to be the auditors from the Auditor General’s team. These were the ones who actually went in and inspected the Immigration Department’s records, to unearth all the irregularities.

So, they showed up to testify, but after the Committee completed their pre-hearing deliberations, they decided against calling them. The Chairman of the Committee explained it in a briefing this morning:

Hon. Aldo Salazar - Chairman, Senate Select Committee
"The witnesses who are to come forward are from the audit team that carried out the process in compiling the report which is the auditor general's report and we really don't have consensus that we should really interview those persons as opposed to the auditor general herself who has that constitutional responsibility to answer question to who has compiled the report. The analogy has been made similar to say me, I'm an attorney I gave a legal opinion and I stand by that opinion. I sign it but inevitably we cannot do everything on our own, I have staff that help me with research and then you go around me and question my staff when I'm really the person who's responsible, I'm the professional, I'm the responsible person for that opinion. So that is where we have that lack on consensus so that is why we didn't go ahead today."

Daniel Ortiz
"What is exactly the descending opinion in questioning the staff per say sir? Is it not proper?"

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"The question is - I'm not pronouncing on it, the question is one of propriety; whether it should really be done or whether it is the auditor general herself who must respond to those queries and not necessarily the people who did the work because if you look at the report it's signed by the auditor general."

Reporter
"At the end of the day we see that a hearing is cancelled, did the committee did not have enough time to this type of consideration prior to experiencing what you guys have today?"

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"I think it's unfortunate. I would say that the committee should have had the opportunity but I think you would note that we have been for the past few weeks in a situation where the committee as it is comprised has not been; all the members have not been present for some reason or the other so I think that is really what contributed to it and even so today regrettably Senator Smith could not be with us as well."