Hawaii Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke announced she will hire a professional campaign finance compliance firm to audit her past campaign finance reports following revelations that she may be connected to a federal bribery investigation. Luke made the announcement in a video message posted to her social media platforms on Monday, addressing concerns about campaign finance compliance amid an ongoing state public corruption investigation.
In the video and a corresponding written statement on her official website, Luke maintained that she has never personally enriched herself or any campaign supporter, granted special favors to contributors, or purposely violated campaign finance rules. The lieutenant governor’s announcement comes after months of speculation about an unnamed legislator allegedly involved in accepting improper campaign contributions.
Federal Investigation Background
For months, news media and the public have speculated about the identity of a local lawmaker who allegedly accepted $35,000 in campaign contributions from individuals connected to late wastewater executive Milton Choy. According to court documents, Choy was at the center of a federal investigation that led to prosecutions and convictions of former state Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English and former state Rep. Ty Cullen for honest services wire fraud.
An unsealed filing in the case referenced a recording made by Cullen that documented a meeting in which an “influential state legislator” allegedly accepted $35,000 in a paper bag. Earlier this month, Luke confirmed she may be the unnamed legislator implicated in the previously sealed filing.
State Investigation Launched
Last month, the state Department of the Attorney General’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division launched a public corruption investigation into the matter, led by supervising deputy attorney general David Van Acker. The action followed an agreement between Attorney General Anne Lopez and U.S. Attorney Ken Sorensen under which federal authorities would share information from their ongoing investigation as it directly pertained to the alleged bribe.
Additionally, Lopez confirmed at a news briefing last week that subpoenas have been issued and interviews conducted, though she declined to discuss specific aspects of the case or provide a timeline for completion.
Luke’s Account of Events
In her most extensive statement to date regarding the campaign finance compliance matter, Luke provided her own timeline of events. She said she had dinner with Cullen, lobbyist Tobi Solidum and Solidum’s daughter Kristen Pae, during which she accepted campaign contributions of $5,000 each from Solidum and Pae.
After the U.S. Department of Justice charged Cullen with honest services wire fraud and media reports identified Choy’s involvement, Luke said she decided to donate all past contributions from Choy, his family, and his business associates to the Campaign Spending Commission’s Hawaii Election Fund. Luke sent $25,100 representing 15 contributions made between November 3, 2014 and March 1, 2019 to the commission.
Campaign Finance Reporting Errors
Luke also directed her campaign to refund the $5,000 contributions from Solidum and Pae due to their friendship with Cullen. However, she acknowledged discovering this month that while the refunds appeared in campaign spending reports, the original contributions did not.
The lieutenant governor said she immediately instructed her team to review past campaign spending reports, and the error was corrected on February 7th. Luke stated she was embarrassed by the errors and took responsibility for them, but reiterated that she did not intentionally misreport her campaign’s finances.
The state investigation remains ongoing, with authorities declining to provide a specific timeframe for when findings might be released or what additional steps may be taken in the probe.
