Despite the relieved and smiling faces that emerged from the federal district court on Friday, there was a group of spectators watching the corruption trials of Keith Kinjo and Dennis Mitsunaga with definite vigilance.
Wealthy campaign donors.
But now that he has been acquitted, it will take serious determination to remain firmly within the bounds of campaign finance law. And experts say that determination should come from local governments, which have shown little in recent years.
Mr. Kaneshiro, the former chief prosecutor of Honolulu, and Mr. Mitsunaga, who heads a prominent Hawaiian engineering company, were acquitted Friday of all charges in a conspiracy to defray federal prosecution costs. So did four other Mitsunaga & Associates executives: Terry Ann Otani, Aaron Fujii Shuichi, Chad Michael McDonald, and Sheri Jean Tanaka. All six have pleaded not guilty.
After a two-month trial, they faced fines and up to 15 years in prison. Despite the verdict, defendants who spoke to the media attested to the mental strain this had caused.
That may be a lesson. The corruption accusations are serious, the stress is devastating, and this should give political donors pause.
Political analyst Collin Moore told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that a conviction on a quid pro quo allegation “was always going to be difficult to prove in court,” but he said the case shows the federal government is willing to pursue prosecutions.
The June 2022 indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to expose former Mitsunaga employees to liability for the company and to keep some money from work performed on company time using company resources. , allegedly charged with felony theft. They were indicted on federal charges of conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, and federal program bribery.
Mr. Mitsunaga is a prominent businessman who has donated thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to candidates for county, state and federal office. The focus of the case was approximately $45,000 in donations made to Mr. Kinjo between October 2012 and October 2016.
Coloring all of this was Kinjo’s ties to former police chief Louis Kealoha, who was convicted in 2021 in a notorious public corruption case, and his ex-wife, former deputy prosecutor Katherine Kealoha. .
Not all observers are optimistic about the message this result conveys. Alexander Silvert, a former federal public defender involved in the Kealoha case, said the acquittal may convince bystanders that he is unlikely to be arrested for campaign violations.
But Silbert said the case could provide strategy for the same federal prosecution team, which is preparing for a separate trial involving a city employee’s involvement in entering into a severance agreement for a former police chief. The case is scheduled to be retried in October.
The legal cloud hanging over the prosecutor’s office has been there for eight years, extending beyond that to Honolulu Hale. This must be unbearable.
Instead, the corrupting influence of lobbyist and donor money circulating in politics has become so entrenched that it cannot be ignored, and in 2021, two former state legislators, J. Kalani English and Ty Cullen, A person has lost his footing. Both men pleaded guilty to accepting bribes.
Immediately after the incident, lawmakers moved to crack down on corruption, but their efforts have not gone far enough.
The acquittal in the Kinjo case does not negate the need for careful monitoring of political funds. Perhaps lawmakers should be asked to further strengthen the boundaries of good government for elected officials.
