Harris investigation widens City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle has broadened his investigation into Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris' political campaign.
The city prosecutor issues
subpoenas to review contracts
with Harris donorsBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.comThe prosecutor's office recently issued subpoenas to city departments for records, indicating that it has expanded its criminal inquiry beyond the fund-raising practices of Harris' 2000 mayoral campaign and is looking at the city's awarding of contracts to political donors.
The disclosure also means that Carlisle's investigation will likely take longer than the Harris campaign anticipated.
In an April 16 letter to the Star-Bulletin, city Corporation Counsel David Arakawa confirmed that city departments have received subpoenas.
But Arakawa denied an April 2 request by the Star-Bulletin under the state's open-records law for copies of the subpoenas, citing Carlisle's pending investigation. Arakawa did not identify the city departments subpoenaed by the prosecutor's office.
"We were advised by the prosecutor's office that the criminal investigation which your letter refers to is an ongoing investigation. The prosecutor's office has also expressed concerns that disclosure of this information may affect their investigation," Arakawa wrote. "Because of this, the City and County of Honolulu is precluded from disclosing the requested information."
Carlisle's office declined to comment.
Harris, who is running for governor as a Democrat, has denied wrongdoing, saying campaign donations play no role in the awarding of city contracts.
Chris Parsons, an attorney for the Harris campaign, said he is unaware of any subpoenas issued to city officials and has not had contact with the prosecutor's office recently.
But Parsons said the campaign had hoped that the prosecutor's office would have concluded its investigation quickly.
"We've said from the start that we're confident the prosecutor's office will conduct a very fair, objective and thorough investigation," added Rick Tsujimura, chairman of Harris' 2002 campaign.
"That takes a lot of time, and the prosecutor has other responsibilities besides past Harris campaigns. But of course, we hope a final report will be issued soon so that any unanswered questions in the mind of the public can be put to rest."
Harris suspended his gubernatorial campaign after Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna ruled in March that he should have stepped down as mayor last May when he filed an organizational report with the state Campaign Spending Commission for this year's governor's race.
Harris has appealed McKenna's order to the state Supreme Court.
The expanded criminal inquiry comes nearly a year after the Star-Bulletin reported that the Harris campaign raised nearly $750,000, or about a quarter of his $3 million war chest for the 2000 mayoral race, from people and companies linked to dozens of city contracts. Harris defeated former City Councilman Mufi Hannemann in the 2000 race.
Carlisle's office, which is being assisted by the local FBI office, began looking into the Harris campaign in January after the Campaign Spending Commission made a criminal referral to the prosecutor's office.
As part of its initial inquiry, the prosecutor's office subpoenaed records from the Harris campaign and the Campaign Spending Commission. The commission's complaint alleged that the Harris campaign took contributions and "knowingly and intentionally" booked them under false names.
However, the commission did not make any allegations about nonbid contracts awarded to political donors.
City & County of Honolulu
