Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced his resignation, days after demonstrators at the island's largest protest in recent history called for his ouster over a scandal involving leaked private chats as well as corruption investigations and arrests, NBC News reported. His resignation, effective Aug. 2, came late Wednesday night on a recorded video published on Facebook. In the message, he touted what he considered accomplishments of his tenure, saying he fought corruption and made strides for different communities. Rosselló is the U.S. commonwealth's first governor to resign. In his recorded message, he urged people to stay orderly. The news came after three attorneys commissioned by the president of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, Carlos Méndez Núñez, unanimously found five offenses that constituted grounds for impeachment. Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans have been protesting for 12 consecutive days, demanding Rosselló's ouster. Protests continued to grow after Rosselló announced that he wouldn't run for re-election and would step down from the leadership of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party. By law, the island's secretary of state would succeed Rosselló, but no one has been confirmed for that position since Luis G. Rivera Marín, who was part of the chat scandal, submitted his resignation on July 13. Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez is next in line. Vázquez, who was appointed in 2017, is seen as loyal to Rosselló and the hashtag #WandaRenuncia (or "Wanda, resign") started trending immediately after Rosselló's address ended. Vázquez initially described the leaked chats as "incorrect" but not illegal. She later announced that she would recuse herself from any investigation because she was mentioned in the chats.
