Campaign Commission The state Campaign Spending Commission postponed action on its latest complaint against Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' political campaign after the campaign filed three lawsuits against the commission.
pauses in wake
of Harris’ lawsuits
The watchdog group plans
to review the case's legal issuesBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.comIn a 3-2 vote yesterday, the commission gave its staff another month to review the legal issues and facts surrounding its Feb. 1 four-count complaint alleging that the Harris campaign made more than $20,000 in improper expenditures and failed to register $100,000 in campaign funds that it raised on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. The commission also agreed to give the Harris campaign an additional month to respond to its complaint.
Robert Watada, the commission's executive director, said staffers were prepared to proceed with the complaint, but several commissioners wanted to ensure that they were on sound legal footing.
The move came after the Harris campaign filed three lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Honolulu and state Circuit Court, alleging that the commission and Watada abused their office and unfairly applied the campaign law at the expense of the Harris campaign.
In one of the suits, the Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee alleged that the commission's Feb. 1 complaint violated Harris' constitutional rights by threatening to fine him for collecting $102,000 in November 2000 for the DNC on behalf of former Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign.
William McCorriston, an attorney for the DNC and the Harris campaign, said that federal law allows the Harris camp to assist and solicit contributions that are made directly to the DNC and that the commission had no jurisdiction in such federal matters.
McCorriston alleged in separate state and federal suits that Watada discriminated against the Harris campaign by limiting the amount of money that contributors to his 2000 mayoral campaign could give in the upcoming gubernatorial race.
"I don't have any confidence that we will be treated fairly by this body, and I prefer to resolve this as quick as possible," said McCorriston, whose suit asked a federal judge to impose an injunction barring the commission from taking action on its complaint. "I would just as soon have this resolved and not deferred into some sinkhole that would get resurrected later on to make it more difficult for Jeremy Harris."
Harris plans to run for governor this year as a Democrat.
Watada said the lawsuits -- which also name the commission's five-member board individually -- are intended to harass the commission. He denied that he discriminated against Harris, saying his office has gone after campaign irregularities by other politicians.
Yesterday's postponement came about a month after the commission voted to send a separate complaint to city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle's office. In that complaint the commission alleged that the Harris 2000 campaign intentionally took contributions and booked them under false names.
In a related matter, the commission voted unanimously to approve a deal with the local firm of Thermal Engineering Inc. Without admitting or denying guilt, the company agreed to pay a $31,000 fine to settle illegal campaign donation charges.