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Puerto Rico governor rejects calls to resign amid scandal

Puerto Rico's Gov. Ricardo Rosselló says he will not step down over a group chat scandal that has rocked his administration.

Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rossello holds a press conference, almost two days after federal authorities arrested the island's former secretary of education and five other people on charges of steering federal money to unqualified, politically connected contractors, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 11, 2019. At the time of the arrests, Rossello was in the middle of a family vacation in France, which he canceled to travel back to the Island. U.S. Attorney for Puerto Rico Rosa Emilia Rodríguez said Gov. Ricardo Rossello was not involved in the investigation. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rossello holds a press conference, almost two days after federal authorities arrested the island's former secretary of education and five other people on charges of steering federal money to unqualified, politically connected contractors, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 11, 2019. At the time of the arrests, Rossello was in the middle of a family vacation in France, which he canceled to travel back to the Island. U.S. Attorney for Puerto Rico Rosa Emilia Rodríguez said Gov. Ricardo Rossello was not involved in the investigation. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)Read moreCarlos Giusti / AP
    by Associated Press, The Associated Press
    Published 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's Gov. Ricardo Rosselló says he will not step down over a group chat scandal that has rocked his administration.

The governor was a participant in a private chat that used profanities to describe an ex-New York City councilwoman and a federal control board overseeing the island's finances. Two top officials have already said they would resign.

Rosselló said at a church in the capital of San Juan on Sunday that he was humbled by events and would look to God to guide him through "figurative or real" hurricanes.

He said that his "commitment is to learn from what was done" and continue "advancing efforts so that Puerto Rico can move forward."

A group of protesters is gathering outside La Fortaleza governor’s residence to demand his resignation.