The Hawaiʻi House of Representatives has finally responded to a petition it received in January asking it to investigate the case of $35,000 handed to an unknown influential lawmaker in 2022. 

More than 900 petitioners asked the lawmakers to find out what happened in this transaction, determine if any laws had been broken and figure out what steps should be taken to address ethics problems at the Legislature. 

On Wednesday, after months of silence, the House voted 39-11 to file the petition, essentially killing it, without any discussion of the merits and with no promises to take action. 

The vote shut down the possibility of a legislative committee looking into a financial transaction that has captured the public’s attention and which is currently under investigation by the Hawaiʻi attorney general. 

“This was simply a clear move by leadership to kill this petition, have no debate and sweep this under the rug,” said Alexander Silvert, an attorney who wrote the petition and sat in the House gallery as the vote occurred. “Unfortunately there are enough sheep in the Legislature to go along with the leadership.” 

The petition stems from the federal investigation of former Rep. Ty Cullen, who became an FBI asset after his arrest for taking bribes in 2021. 

Before he pleaded guilty and went to prison, Cullen recorded an unidentified man giving approximately $35,000 to another lawmaker, according to a Justice Department document filed as part of Cullen’s sentencing. That lawmaker has yet to be identified, and the circumstances around the transaction remain unknown to the public but have raised concerns about possible corruption. 

Federal prosecutors handed over their files on the matter to Attorney General Anne Lopez in January, and Lopez says her case is ongoing. 

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, House Speaker Nadine Nakamura said the petition was filed “after careful review.”

“We share the public’s sense of urgency surrounding these matters, and we have full confidence that the Attorney General shares it as well — she is currently investigating and providing bi-weekly updates to the public,” Nakamura said.

“The Attorney General has made substantial progress by interviewing 18 individuals, issuing multiple subpoenas, and reviewing thousands of pages of documents. We are satisfied that the investigation is proceeding with the seriousness it deserves. The House will continue to monitor the Attorney General’s investigation and will take next steps as appropriate once her investigation concludes.”

Cathy Lee, a spokeswoman for the House majority, noted members urged the attorney general to expedite its investigation in House Resolution No. 8, which passed on Jan. 30.

Rep. David Tarnas too pointed to the AG’s investigation as proof that a legislative committee is unnecessary. 

“I don’t think the House has the expertise to conduct the investigation or the authority to file charges or prosecute someone,” he said on the House floor on Wednesday before voting to file the petition. “We only have the authority to discipline someone who is currently a member of this body.”

But Silvert has argued a legislative investigation is also needed to determine what steps are needed to restore trust at the Legislature. And it would provide an avenue for facts to be made public, whereas the AG’s investigation is inherently secret and may remain so if no one is ever charged with a crime. 

“If they don’t have enough evidence to indict someone, the investigation itself and all the information gathered normally remains secret,” Silvert said. 

Lawmakers who voted in favor of filing the petition without further action should be held accountable by voters when they face reelection, according to Silvert, who added he is considering legal action and might even consider running for office himself. 

Lawmakers who voted against Nakamura’s ruling included Reps. Terez Amato, Della Au Belatti, Elle Cochran, Diamond Garcia, Joe Gedeon, Kim Coco Iwamoto, Lauren Matsumoto, Chris Muraoka, Elijah Pierick, Garner Shimizu and Kanani Souza.

The Senate voted to file the petition in late January and has taken no action on it. 

Government accountability advocates expressed disappointment with the House’s vote.

“They’re afraid to open Pandora’s box,” said Sam Small, a Maui community organizer who also signed on to the petition. “They have no idea how deep into the establishment it’s going to go, and so they don’t want to investigate anything.”

The decision Wednesday tells voters that its “business as usual” in the State Capitol, said Camron Hurt, state director of Common Cause Hawai’i.

That the House waited until a period known as conference committee, when everyone’s schedule becomes tight as negotiations around bills intensify, was no accident, Hurt said. He believes it was calculated to stifle discussion.

Legislators had other avenues too, advocates said. They could have taken up the petition earlier in session. They could still form an investigative committee without extending the current session and incurring costs or waiting for the AG’s investigation to end.

“Are they really expecting us to get to the primary (election) and not have clarity on these things?” Hurt said.

Yesterday, six House members wrote a letter to Nakamura seeking clarity around the petition. They also asked for 72 hours notice before the petition was presented on the House floor.

Instead, Nakamura added the petition to Wednesday’s agenda with only two hour’s notice. Lee, the House spokeswoman, said the publication of the agenda for the Order of the Day, the House’s floor session, followed normal procedure.

The House speaker responded to the representatives’ letter just 18 minutes before the start of Wednesday’s floor session to say that she would be filing the petition. She wrote that forming an investigative committee would be “a redundant exercise” because the AG’s office is already investigating the $35,000 transaction.

During the floor session, Belatti, who is running for Congress, objected to filing the petition and asked for the matter to be deferred for a day. 

“This deserves true consideration,” she said. “It does not deserve to be simply filed and ignored.” 

Belatti, a lawyer who once served on the commission overseeing campaign finance in Hawaii, said the handling of the petition is “something I have never seen in my 20 years” at the Legislature. 

“If we run away,” she said, “we are ignoring the call of the public for transparency and accountability.” 

Souza was similarly concerned with the lack of advance notice given to House members and the public regarding the decision on the petition.

“I find that to be a travesty to people who deserve answers in their call for justice,” she said.

Tarnas, who supported Nakamura’s decision to table the petition, said lawmakers are entering a busy period with conference committee discussions opening. Filing the petition was the most efficient way for lawmakers to handle their business, he said.

“I find that to be a travesty to people who deserve answers in their call for justice.”

Republican Rep. Kanani Souza

Vice Speaker Linda Ichiyama said it would not be appropriate to take action on the petition while the attorney general’s investigation is still pending. She said the decision still “opens the door for further action in the future.”

Toward the end of the debate, Belatti asked Nakamura when the House would take up the petition again. Nakamura pounded the gavel and called for a recess while Belatti was still speaking. 

When the House came back into session, Nakamura told the members they would not be taking questions and then called for the vote.