Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke has become the center of a story involving allegations that an “influential lawmaker” accepted $35,000 in a paper bag during a January 2022 meeting.
The claim came to light during the federal bribery investigation into former House Rep. Ty Cullen and Sen. Kalani English.
“I'm not saying I am the 'influential lawmaker' in question,” Luke told HPR on Tuesday.
“What I'm trying to clarify is that we did have a meeting with Ty Cullen and another individual and his daughter. All I'm saying is we want to at least clarify that portion, but because of the reference to $35,000 in the federal document, the facts don't line up.”
The January 2022 meeting with former Rep. Ty Cullen
At that meeting in January 2022 with lobbyist Tobi Solidum and his daughter Kristen Pae, they each gave Luke $5,000 in campaign contributions, which Luke failed to report to state officials. At the time, Luke was the head of the House Finance Committee and running for lieutenant governor.
What she did report in 2022 was returning both contributions in March after Cullen was charged with bribery.
“Because of their close relationship with Ty Cullen. We just felt uncomfortable about keeping those checks,” Luke told HPR.
She explained that she was notified a few days ago by Honolulu Civil Beat about the missing campaign contributions from Solidum and Pae and amended her 2022 campaign spending reports over the weekend.
Luke could not recall details about the dinner and said she only remembered that it happened after looking at the unreported checks. That’s what led her to speculate whether she was the lawmaker referred to in the federal documents.
“I don't really remember those details, only because this was four years ago and it doesn't really stick out,” she said. “I just launched the lieutenant governor's race, and because of that, there were a lot of people who were supportive of my campaign, so that wasn't unusual that I would get together with people and they would support my campaign through campaign contributions.”
Who are the lobbyists who gave Luke the $5,000 checks?
Solidum and Pae have both been part of Geopolicy Development Group LLC, which was registered with the Hawaiʻi Ethics Commission as a lobbying group. Pae joined the management of the group in 2021.
Solidum was a registered lobbyist between 2019 and 2022, both on behalf of two separate dialysis care companies: Fresenius Medical Care North America and U.S. Renal Care.
Solidum gave over a hundred thousand dollars to candidates over the years. In January 2022, he also contributed to Gov. Josh Green, Senate President Ron Kouchi and Maui Sen. Lynn DeCoite.
According to campaign reports, Luke was the only lawmaker who returned Solidum's full contribution. Kouchi’s campaign had to give $500 in excess contributions back to Solidum because he went over the campaign spending limit of $4,000.
Between 2015 and 2020, Solidum gave Luke $4,500 in campaign donations, which she did not return.
“We have not returned those funds only because Tobi is not charged with a crime,” she said.
When asked if she thinks her colleagues should also return their contributions from Solidum, Luke said it’s an “individual decision.”
Cullen pleaded guilty to taking bribes from 2014 to 2021. He became an FBI informant in the time between his arrest and his plea. That case involved local businessman Milton Choy.
Luke said that after Cullen and former Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English pleaded guilty in that case, she and her campaign identified slightly more than $25,000 in donations from Choy, his relatives, and colleagues. She, like many other lawmakers, returned those funds to the Campaign Spending Commission.
That plus the $10,000 unreported contribution from Pae and Solidum would add up to $35,000.
Luke said she did not take $35,000 in a paper bag
What Luke said she is sure of is that she did not take $35,000 in a paper bag.
“It is very specific, but for me, the truth is all we have, and Sylvia Luke did not take $35,000 from a single individual at a meeting with Ty Cullen. And we definitely did not take $35,000 from someone in a paper bag,” Luke said.
“I want to make sure that I'm completely transparent. It is definitely possible that it could be somebody else. … I shouldn't hide from letting people know what the facts are, and even if it could be somebody else, or even if the facts end up being made clear. That's why I think it's really important for all of us to step back and wait for the Attorney General's office to finish its investigation.”
In his November letter to House Speaker Nadine Nakamura, U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson reiterated that an exchange involving $35,000 in a paper bag did occur.
State Attorney General Anne Lopez is still investigating the alleged $35,000 exchange.
However, the Clean Elections Hawai‘i Coalition, a group of good government organizations, has called on Lopez to appoint an independent special prosecutor.
“We don't know if what the lieutenant governor has said is accurate. It needs to be looked into, and to have the attorney general do that is, to me as a lawyer, a clear conflict of interest,” said former federal public defender Ali Silvert, who is leading the call to reveal the accused lawmaker.
“To me, that has to be done immediately. This is a clear conflict of interest in so many different way and to do anything less would suggest that the truth may not come out.”
Gov. Josh Green said in a statement, “This situation is deeply concerning and accountability is essential — no one gets a free pass. We are in an active investigation led by my Attorney General, and I want to see all of the facts released to the people of our state as expeditiously as possible. This needs to be resolved for the good of our public trust.”
Campaign spending reforms moving through the Legislature
Retired Judge Dan Foley, who chaired a commission tasked with proposing campaign reforms to restore public trust, urged the Legislature to pass a bill to fully finance public elections.
“The more public financing we have, the more candidates that take that as their means of raising money. And the less they rely on private contributions, the less often or less likely is for this thing to happen. So I think this incident should really help push public financing across the finish line,” he said.
Foley pointed to the issue of extra access allowed to political donors who contribute to lawmakers’ campaigns.
“With the current system with private donations, candidates will always say, ‘Oh, it doesn't influence my decision making,’ but everybody knows it gives the donors more access to these candidates than people that don't make contributions,” he said.
“Even if they don't influence decision-making, and the public is very skeptical about that, the appearance is not good. Everybody wants elected public officials to make decisions based on the merits of a proposal or the lack thereof — not on what special interest is giving them money.”
Another measure being considered would increase the statute of limitations on campaign finance violations beyond the current five years. Under the current law, the state only has until January 2027 to prosecute the alleged $35,000 exchange.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear both measures on Thursday.
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