The New Hampshire House punted on whether it should open an investigation into New Hampshire’s top judge on Thursday, voting to table a resolution without any debate.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking to look into Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, pointing to a list of concerns, including his role in a payout to a top court official.
The measure is dividing rank and file members of both parties. The House Judiciary Committee recommended last month against moving forward with the investigation on a 12-5 vote, but backers are seeking to introduce an amended version of the resolution that would give them the authority to hold hearings and request documents.
It isn’t clear when the full House may take up a vote on the resolution.
MacDonald has come under scrutiny for his role allegedly overseeing a nearly $50,000 payment made to a top court official, Dianne Martin, who is also a longtime colleague of the chief. A whistleblower alleges MacDonald helped orchestrate a 48-hour layoff for Martin, so that she could collect unpaid benefits, before she was immediately rehired into a top job in the court system.
The court has defended its handling of the payment, and said other justices at the time approved of the personnel decisions involving Martin.
Backers of the investigation are also raising questions about MacDonald’s truthfulness during an interview with prosecutors, as part of a 2024 criminal investigation into former Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi. Hantz Marconi told prosecutors that she and MacDonald discussed in advance her meeting with Gov. Chris Sununu, but MacDonald later told authorities that he had no memory of that meeting. (Hantz Marconi pleaded guilty to trying to sway Sununu to intervene in an investigation into her husband.)
Some Republicans and Democrats oppose launching an inquiry, citing what they see as thin evidence of wrongdoing on the chief justice’s part, as well as concerns about setting a precedent that could be exploited.
MacDonald has been chief justice since 2021, and previously served as New Hampshire Attorney General under Sununu.
