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CONCORD, N.H. — An associate justice on the New Hampshire Supreme Court who was indicted last week over a conversation she had with Governor Christopher T. Sununu said in a court filing Wednesday that the chief justice told her in advance it would be acceptable for her to meet with Sununu.
Associate Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi is facing felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly telling Sununu on or about June 6 that an investigation by the attorney general’s office into her husband was meritless and needed to wrap up quickly because she had recused herself from important pending cases.
Hantz Marconi, 68, said she communicated with Chief Justice Gordon J. MacDonald ahead of time about her desire to request a meeting with Sununu, and MacDonald signaled doing so seemed appropriate.
“I think you can do that,” MacDonald said, according to Hantz Marconi’s recollection relayed in her court filing. “You are a constituent and have concerns.”
Hantz Marconi called on MacDonald to recuse himself from a disciplinary proceeding against her, saying he would clearly be a witness in her criminal case based on their prior conversation.
The office that oversees attorney disciplinary matters advised the Supreme Court on Monday to suspend Hantz Marconi’s license to practice law immediately, and she responded Wednesday by voluntarily accepting the suspension while continuing to deny the charges.
“She maintains her innocence,” attorneys Richard Guerriero and Oliver Bloom wrote in her response. “Nonetheless, she recognizes that a temporary suspension of her right to practice law is appropriate during her administrative leave while the criminal case is pending.”
Without addressing the particulars of Hantz Marconi’s motion, MacDonald and the other three justices — Senior Associate Justice James P. Bassett, Associate Justice Patrick E. Donovan, and Associate Justice Melissa B. Countway — all recused themselves Wednesday, citing their desire to avoid adjudicating the conduct of a current colleague.
“Our recusal is conditioned upon the availability of substitute justices to participate in this case,” they noted. “In the event that substitute justices are not available, the ‘rule of necessity’ may compel our participation.”
Under the relevant state law, the chief justice or senior associate justice may assign a retired judge to fill a vacancy temporarily. If a retired Supreme Court justice is unavailable, they can assign a retired Superior Court judge. If that’s not possible, they can appoint a current Superior Court judge. If there is still no one available, they can select from the current district and probate court judges.
It was not immediately clear who might be on the clerk’s list of judges willing to serve temporarily as Supreme Court justices.
Spokespeople for the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the New Hampshire Department of Justice declined to comment on Hantz Marconi’s filing.
Geno J. Marconi, Hantz Marconi’s husband, was indicted Thursday by a grand jury on felony witness tampering and other charges. Marconi is the director of the New Hampshire Port Authority.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.
“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.
“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”
Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.
“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.
He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”
Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.
For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.
“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”
Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.
CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”
Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.
29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.
“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.
While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.
“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,
“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.
“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.
Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.
“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.
Local News
A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway.
Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski.
The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said.
The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police.
He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said.
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