Senators advanced a measure Tuesday that would allow elected officials to be charged with a misdemeanor if they're found to have failed to report bribery.
Currently, if an elected county or state lawmaker has knowledge of another accepting a bribe, there is no legal penalty for not reporting it.
But Honolulu Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Hugo explained that the measure may create a situation where a key witness to a bribe can invoke the Fifth Amendment to remain silent during a court proceeding and avoid self-incrimination.
“At this point, if a witness does not have a valid privilege and they're summoned before a grand jury, or they're at a preliminary hearing, it would be criminal contempt to refuse to answer those questions,” he said.
“However, if this person could be convicted of failure to report, then they could, conceivably, have a Fifth Amendment privilege and refuse to answer questions about bribery offenses they may know of.”
Under the measure, elected officials would have 60 days to report bribery to the state attorney general, law enforcement agency or ethics commission.
The measure passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and will next be heard on second reading by the full Senate. It was part of a package of bribery bills that advanced on Tuesday.
Another bill would extend the statute of limitations on campaign finance violations from the current five years to nine years. It comes as the state Department of the Attorney General continues its investigation into an “influential lawmaker” who allegedly 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. Both served time in federal prison.
If a campaign finance violation did occur, the state currently only has until January 2027 to prosecute the alleged $35,000 exchange.
How did we get here? Read past HPR coverage:
- Hawaiʻi AG says 'no conflict' in investigation into alleged $35K lawmaker exchange (Feb. 23, 2026)
- Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke says she did not take $35,000 in a paper bag (Feb. 10, 2026)
- $35,000 payment to unknown lawmaker in 2022 looms over state Capitol (Jan. 9, 2026)
- Former Rep. Ty Cullen gets 2 years in a corruption case that highlights Hawaiʻi's cesspool mess (April 2023)
- Former Maui County official sentenced to 10 years for taking $2M in bribes (February 2023)
- Former Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English sentenced to 40 months for taking bribes (July 2022)
- Former lawmakers admit to taking bribes to steer legislation (February 2022)
