Ray Implicated in "Lasergate" Scandal

SENATE HALL, CORUSCANT - Senator Exar Ray (Dantooine) has been the subject of a Senate investigation this week, to determine whether he misrepresented or, allegedly, concealed the number of planetary turbolasers present on Dantooine during a debate last month on a bill that would have significantly bolstered the planet's defenses. Ray has said he will not resign as Chairman of the Defense Council, but faces growing calls to do so as a result of the "Lasergate" scandal, as it has become known.

"Senator Ray, you stated on the date in question that the Dantooine defenses were at one level, and in fact they were considerably stronger," said Senator Kruus (Neimoidia), who is leading the investigation. "One could say that you decieved the Senate into voting for a bill to grant you an even larger number of defenses[.] This is at the very best, a very serious mistake and demonstrates very little respect for the Senate... and as such very little respect for the citizens [whose] representatives you are accused of lying to."

"I ask you," Kruus concluded during a hearing last week, "did you knowingly lie to the Senate[?]"

Ray called the accusations an "intention to damage my good name," and denied having deliberately lied when he claimed Dantooine had no planetary turbolasers, then later admitted the existence of one, before Chief of State Eli Fitzgerald (Ralltiir) issued a statement disclosing the presence of multiple such weapons on the planet. "I did not intentionally lie to the Senate to [acquire] more defenses for the planet," Ray answered. He also declared that lying was not his "goal," and that he "would never lie to the Senate or the good people of the New Republic."

The Senator also accused Kruus of having "the nasty [irritation] of sticking your nose into something that shouldn't be," and declared that "the citizens... are now in more [jeopardy than] ever by the greedy curiosity of Senator Kruus." The Neimoidian Senator, in turn, suggested that "such an ad-hominem fashion is a rather pathetic move and possibly the last bastion you [Senator Ray] can muster before you acknowledge that in this matter Senator, you were wrong..."

Kruus, the Chairman of the Economics Council, was later granted a warrant from the Chair of the Senate, Gustav Emerest (Coruscant), to inspect the locations of the weapons on Dantooine itself, a warrant that was challenged by Senator Ray and summarily upheld in the courts. Kruus and his Economics Council are currently at Dantooine, continuing the investigation into what Chief of State Fitzgerald's statement referred to as "[severe] allegations of impropriety."

Asked if he had considered replacing Senator Ray as Chairman of the Defense Council, Fitzgerald reiterated his support for Ray and his "trust in the Senator to do what's in the best interest of the Council," but also noted that "[Senators] Carson or Forte would make fine chairmen." Lasergate has also prompted the Intergalactic Mining Corporation (IMC), which maintains facilities on Dantooine, to threaten leaving the planet. The Coruscant Journal will continue to monitor events as they develop.