Harris fundraising
nets grand jury
investigationIt is the latest move in the
probe by the city prosecutor
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle will convene a grand jury to investigate the fundraising activities of the political campaign of Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris.
The prosecutor's office told several potential witnesses this week that it will issue subpoenas for the grand jury, which will meet later this month.
A spokeswoman for Harris had no comment, but in the past the mayor has denied wrongdoing. William McCorriston, Harris' attorney, said he is not aware of a grand jury hearing.
Harris had been the top Democratic contender for last year's governor's race but dropped out after running into a string of political and legal woes.
The prosecutor's office had no comment. The grand jury is the latest of several convened by Carlisle in his one-year investigation into Harris' 2000 re-election campaign and aborted 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
A November 2002 grand jury resulted in no-contest pleas on money laundering and campaign spending violations by the top executive of SSFM International Inc. SSFM, one of the state's largest engineering firms and a major city contractor, admitted to laundering $139,500 to the Harris campaign.
A previous grand jury investigated the city's development of the $23 million Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park and the $45 million Central Oahu Regional Park.
Harris has denied any connection between political contributions and the award of city contracts.