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Ige misses
campaign data
deadline, faces fine

The state senator, facing trial
in a campaign spending case,
says he was unaware a
report was due

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By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

State Sen. Marshall Ige -- already awaiting trial on misdemeanor charges of campaign spending violations -- will likely be fined $50 for not filing his most recent campaign spending report by last Friday's deadline.

Ige said yesterday that he didn't know about the deadline and didn't realize he had missed it until he was asked about the status of his disclosure by the Star-Bulletin.

All registered candidates were supposed to file preliminary primary election campaign spending reports by July 28, said Campaign Spending Commission executive director Bob Watada.

The report for the period, covering Jan. 1 through June 30, includes contributions received by candidates and expenditures paid by the campaign.

Ige said he received contributions during that period but that the process of detailing each contribution in the report is time-consuming, which is why he may not be able to get the report to the commission until some time today.

This comes as Ige faces unrelated misdemeanor charges of campaign spending violations.

Those allegations include failing to report campaign expenditures, failing to disclose campaign deficits and accepting an improper loan.

Most of the counts are connected to the state's investigation of the Bishop Estate, now known as the Kamehameha Schools.

Ige has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is awaiting trial, which will be scheduled sometime after a pretrial hearing later this month.

When Ige was asked whether he expects to be penalized for failing to file the current disclosure on time, he replied, "Of course, I'm a target."

Ige said he doesn't mind paying the fine, "as long as they treat me like everyone else."

Watada said that anyone who misses the deadline is subject to the penalty. "Everybody gets assessed an automatic $50 fine. The law affects everybody," Watada said.

Watada said his office has received calls from at least two other candidates who did not file by last week's deadline.

They said they forgot, Watada said.

His office is still receiving campaign spending reports filed on the neighbor islands.

He said he probably will know by the end of the week how many candidates did not file on time.

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