State lawmakers, community advocates and government watchdog groups gathered to push for good government policies at the state Legislature, such as expanding publicly funded elections, closing campaign finance loopholes, strengthening civics education and expanding voter access.
The rally also focused on an investigation to identify a Hawaiʻi lawmaker who is accused of accepting $35,000 in 2022. The allegation came to light during the federal bribery investigation into former state Rep. Ty Cullen and Sen. Kalani English.
The Hawaiʻi House released a statement signed by 23 current representatives who were also in office in 2022. It says they are not the lawmaker who took the money and don’t know who it is.
But former federal public defender Ali Silvert, who is leading the call to reveal the accused lawmaker, says it’s not enough.
“While I think that … the written statement of the 23 representatives saying they were not the bandit, they did not take the money, and they don't know who it is — it's a great, gracious step forward,” he said.
“But let me ask you this question. If you are that person, why wouldn't you sign that letter? What are the ramifications to you? And if you don't sign it, isn't that just a spotlight on you? So I think it's a great effort. I don't think it has a lot of meaning.”
Silvert filed a petition signed by over 900 Hawaiʻi residents to the state House and Senate, asking them to investigate the issue.
State Attorney General Anne Lopez also released a statement declining to investigate the matter because of concerns that it would interfere with the ongoing federal investigation.
“I have spoken directly with the United States Attorney, who affirmed that a parallel investigation by state authorities would potentially interfere with their federal investigation,” she wrote in a statement.
“There was no ambiguity in our conversation that a parallel state investigation would disrupt his ongoing investigation … to the extent that the Department of the Attorney General can assist in the future, I welcome that wholeheartedly, but I appreciate and respect the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s current position.”
Rep. Della Au Belatti criticized the AG’s decision.
“ We have seen the state attorney general abdicate her responsibility as a representative of the executive branch. We as legislators can call upon ourselves to hold an investigation to hold our colleagues accountable to demand transparency,” she said.
“The reality is that the person may not be the person in a House seat right now, but we have members from that period who are now serving in the executive branch … so it begs the question, is the attorney general not willing to investigate because it may implicate executive branch representatives?”
Senate President Ron Kouchi released a statement late Friday, saying in part, "all current sitting Senators have been asked as to whether they received the alleged funds and/or if they know any legislator who received the alleged funds. All majority Senate members have stated that they did not receive the alleged funds and do not know any legislator who received the alleged funds. None of the minority members responded to my inquiry.”
Lawmakers will reconvene later this month. The 2026 session starts on Jan. 21.
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