Claims of bias prompt review of bureau report
Lawmakers cite an investigator's alleged lack of objectivity
A legislative committee investigating the Bureau of Conveyances plans to review its use of a report by a separate investigator on the same matter, after claims of bias surfaced against the investigator.
"Given the concerns we have heard, the committee needs to take the time and make the effort necessary to ensure that we are proceeding in a fair manner," Sen. Jill Tokuda, co-chair of the committee, wrote in a posting this week on the Senate Majority Caucus blog.
The joint Senate-House committee looking into the bureau is scheduled to resume its work tomorrow, with members reviewing subpoenaed documents relating to the investigation.
Those documents were to include a report prepared by Hilton Lui, an independent investigator hired by the Ethics Commission to conduct its probe into the bureau. Lui, a former FBI agent, also was appointed by the legislative committee to serve as its lead investigator.
But Ethics Commission Executive Director Dan Mollway sent a letter to the committee last week saying he cannot turn over Lui's report and supporting documents because he considers the report "null and void because Mr. Lui was so biased with regard to the investigation."
Mollway said Lui openly displayed his opposition to the re-appointment of former state Department of Land and Natural Resources Director Peter Young and lobbied a senator to vote against him.
The Bureau of Conveyances is a division of DLNR.
Tokuda (D, Kaneohe-Kailua) said she spoke to her co-chairman, Rep. Joe Souki, "and we both want to make it clear that at this point, we are not rendering an opinion as to the quality of Hilton Lui's work for the Ethics Commission or the conclusions he reached in that investigation."
She said Lui is in Japan with his family and attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful. She added that she and Souki "will review these matters with him upon his return and make decisions at that time about the appropriate course of action to take."
Lui is expected to return Saturday.
Republican Rep. Cynthia Thielen, who serves on the committee, said she plans to introduce a motion seeking Lui's removal as investigator for the legislative committee.
Thielen (R, Kaneohe-Kailua) also has asked that subpoenas be issued for up to 29 people who had business dealings with the Bureau of Conveyances.
"Simply put, blame can be found everywhere, just point at someone or something at or associated with the Bureau of Conveyances," Thielen wrote in a letter to Tokuda and Souki.
The Ethics Commission and the state Attorney General's Office have conducted separate investigations into the Bureau of Conveyances. They have focused on security of documents recorded with the bureau, computer access and overall operations of the agency.