Why Hawaii's Lt. Gov Just Got Indicted

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and five others were indicted on charges related to an alleged bribery scheme. In the scheme, Tobi Solidum, a businessman also named in the indictment, sought government funding for his COVID testing sites and promised Luke a $35,000 payment in 2022. Luke was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives running for the lieutenant governor’s office. It was a campaign contribution and an actual allegation of quid pro quo. This is part of a yearslong investigation that led Luke to drop her reelection bid in April (via NYT).

Ms. Luke, a Democrat, was one of five individuals indicted on Friday. The others were Ryan Yamane, a former state representative; Tobi Solidum, a businessman and lobbyist; Ford Fuchigami, an official with Hawaii’s Transportation Department; and Leo Asunción, a former official with Hawaii’s public utilities commission.

David Louie, a former state attorney general Ms. Luke hired as a lawyer this year, according to local news reports, could not immediately be reached for comment. It was unclear on Friday whether the other four people charged were represented by lawyers.

Before any charges were announced, Ms. Luke had taken a leave of absence. She was replaced by an acting lieutenant governor, and abandoned her bid for re-election.

[…]

Court filings released on Friday allege that in 2022, Mr. Solidum, a businessman, sought government funding for the Covid-19 test sites he was operating and promised Ms. Luke — then a state representative running for lieutenant governor — at least $35,000.

But, as the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported, there’s a catch: the evidence of quid pro quo isn’t clear-cut, and this could be a difficult case to prove in court. For those of you who’ve seen The Wolf of Wall Street, this case is no "Grenada”:

Prosecutors may have a harder time proving the criminal bribery and conspiracy case against Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke than with the other four defendants she was indicted with Friday by a 1st Circuit Court grand jury.

There is no clear “quid pro quo” to be found in the indictment in which Luke allegedly either asked or was asked to make in exchange for campaign donations in her successful 2022 run for lieutenant governor, according to retired federal deputy public defender Alexander Silvert.

[...]

The indictment accuses ­Solidum of four counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and three counts of bribery for allegedly bribing Luke and others with campaign contributions, checks and cash.

[…]

Luke at the time was chair of the state House Committee on Finance while raising campaign funds for her race for lieutenant governor. Also at the dinner at Morton’s The Steakhouse at Ala Moana Center was Solidum’s daughter Kristen Pae and Finance Committee Vice Chair Ty J.K. Cullen, who was secretly working as an FBI informant and recorded the conversation.

According to transcripts of recordings included in the 30-page indictment, Solidum told Luke that “Pae had a couple of checks to give her.” Pae placed an envelope on the table and Luke reportedly put it in her handbag. The envelope contained a $5,000 check from Solidum and a $5,000 check from Pae, both written out to “Friends of Sylvia Luke.”

Solidum told Luke, “By next week we’ll have 35 — so it will be halfway to our 70.”

Luke responded, “Oh, wow,” and, “That’s terrific.”

Solidum continued, “So I’ll get you your 70 but just gotta get to that point, OK? It’s our fundraiser.” He also told Luke he would help pull union support for her.

The following day, Luke ordered the chair of the House Committee on Pandemic and Disaster Preparedness to set up a meeting with government officials to discuss emergency appropriations to the state Department of Health, according to the indictment. Three days later, Luke attended a meeting with government officials to “discuss emergency appropriations to DOH and DOH’s ability to pay for COVID community testing.”

I mean, look, it’s what it is, but the timeline here is pretty damning.