Commission refers Luke campaign finance complaint to attorney general
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – In a “significant escalation,” the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission chose to refer its civil complaint against Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke’s campaign spending to the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General for further investigation and possible criminal prosecution.
Read more Falling construction debris prompts road closure in Honolulu
The complaint alleges eight counts of false reports and four counts of mishandling campaign funds in 2021 and 2022 by “Friends of Sylvia Luke” during her run for lieutenant governor.
The complaint also claimed people who were not the campaign treasurer handled funds and wrote more than 200 checks.
“Reviewed as a whole, these are not minor technical errors, they occurred in the campaign for lieutenant governor, run by a candidate who was then the House Finance chair, and who had more than 24 years of legislative and political campaign experience. That candidate went on to win the race, and had the ample opportunity to correct these violations,” commission general counsel Eunice Park said while justifying the decision.
Commissioners spent about 45 minutes behind closed doors during a meeting Wednesday morning before choosing the referral over an alternative, a $28,300 fine.
Three commission members unanimously agreed on the referral.
Commissioner Danton Wong recused himself because of his contributions to Luke’s campaign, “just to avoid any kind of appearance of impropriety,” Wong said.
Luke is on unpaid leave and withdrew her bid for re-election.
Her attorney, former attorney general David Louie, was present at Wednesday’s commission meeting, and said, “At this time, I take no position, and I have no further comment.”
HNN political analyst Colin Moore said a referral of this kind is rare.
“It’s a significant escalation. This has happened before, but it’s certainly not common. And I mean, what it indicates is that the commission thinks these are more than just a series of mistakes or careless errors, that there’s a pattern here that they think might end up being criminally prosecuted,” Moore explained.
A separate criminal investigation is already underway at the attorney general’s office over bribery allegations, examining whether an influential lawmaker accepted a $35,000 bribe.
Read more Man arrested in Ala Moana Beach attempted murder investigation
Luke received a target letter as part of the bribery case.
“(The civil complaint) continues, of course, the political damage to Lt. Gov. Luke’s reputation,” Moore said.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Randy Hironaka, the attorney for three of five others listed in the complaint, asked that his clients be dismissed.
Hironaka said for two of his clients, former campaign treasurers Michael Luke and Kalowena Komeiji, the complaint “doesn’t allege criminal conduct on behalf of my clients. There’s no allegation that they filed any reports.”
Hironaka added his third client, Matt Sasaki, filed a series of amended reports to audit the campaign in 2023.
“I think the common thread, though, between all three of my clients, is that there’s also no allegation of any criminal state of mind,” Hironaka argued.
Park responded by saying, “The (commission) staff’s general position is that it should be up to the attorney general’s office to determine any criminal liability for any individual actors.”
The attorney general’s office told HNN it did not receive the referral and reserved comment.
In the past, Luke repeatedly said the campaign spending mistakes were just human errors, with no criminal intent.
Read more ‘A dream come true for all of us’: Hawaii Pacific welcomes first flag football coach
Post Comment