Money talks: You knew this was coming. Former Honolulu County Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro wants taxpayers to reimburse him for the cost of his defense against criminal charges alleging that he prosecuted a woman who worked for a political ally in exchange for $50,000 in campaign contributions.

Kaneshiro, of course, beat the rap. As did the rich businessman friend and everyone else charged in the federal bribery case. A jury found them all not guilty in 2024.

Now, Kaneshiro has filed a lawsuit in state court seeking an unspecified amount of money from the City and County of Honolulu to cover years worth of legal fees he incurred. He was, after all, a county employee just doing his job when he brought charges against Laurel Mau, an employee of Mitsunaga & Associates, who had sued her by-then-former boss.

The 21-page complaint takes us back in time to when a team of federal prosecutors and investigators set up shop in Honolulu to ferret out public corruption beginning with former Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, his deputy prosecutor wife Katherine and a handful of HPD officers who helped the Kealohas frame her uncle for stealing a mail box (federal offense) to get a leg up in a civil case the Kealohas were fighting.

In 2019, Kaneshiro got caught up in that expanded dragnet and was forced to step down as Honolulu prosecutor while he defended himself not only against the FBI but an effort to impeach him. The city agreed to kick in $75,000 to his fight against impeachment, but refused to pay for his legal defense against the criminal charges.

And yet, Kaneshiro notes in his complaint, the city paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend other city officials — Donna Leong, Max Sword and Roy Amemiya — who were also targets of the same federal prosecutors. And Leong and Sword actually were convicted. They pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges for arranging a $250,000 payoff to Kealoha. Amemiya dodged a conviction by accepting a deferred prosecution deal that allowed his charges to be dismissed.

Ah, the good old days. Check out Civil Beat’s extensive coverage of the federal probe here. Or read Kaneshiro’s lawuit:

Here we go again: The Sunshine Blog is scratching its head over the latest agenda sent out by the Honolulu Ethics Commission about its upcoming meeting this week. Unbelievably, the commission is notifying us it plans to violate the Sunshine Law by meeting behind closed doors to interview, discuss and vote on the hire of its new executive director.

The Blog has to ask: Are they just not paying attention? How does someone get to be on a high-level public board like this and apparently not know anything about Hawaiʻi’s open meetings law? Especially an ethics panel.

The Blog suggests the commissioners review the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court decision in 2019 when the high court ruled that hiring, firing and job reviews of high-level public officials (that would be an executive director of a major city agency) must be done in open public session. Only issues relating to personal privacy (like health or mental health concerns) can be discussed out of public view.

And then in October — and it’s a pretty safe bet these same Honolulu ethics commissioners were actually on the commission at the time — the Office of Information Practices reaffirmed the mandate to do top-level personnel actions in public.

Sigh.

Both the Supreme Court ruling and the more recent OIP updated opinion came after legal challenges to secret action by various boards were brought by the Public First Law Center. When asked about the city Ethics Commission’s latest bonehead move, PFLC’s executive director, Brian Black, told The Blog:

“Public First would strongly discourage the Honolulu Ethics Commission from hiring such a critical watchdog position behind closed doors.  Such unnecessary secrecy can lead to litigation to invalidate the Commission’s selection.”

Hint, hint.

Hopefully the commission will get it straight before its meeting on Friday morning.

Office politics: State Sen. Samantha DeCorte has taken the pledge. And, no, The Blog isn’t referring to the old-fashioned meaning of that phrase which was generally associated with giving up alcohol.

Instead, DeCorte is a fairly recent signatory in U.S. Term Limits’ nationwide push to limit terms for elected officials. This according to the organization that sent out a press release and this awesome photo last week.

U.S. Term Limits is hoping to get 34 states to seek a national convention that would lead to imposing term limits on Congress. And while The Blog thinks “fat chance of that,” it applauds the effort which has been in the works for about 30 years now.  

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it would take a constitutional amendment to limit the terms of U.S. senators and representatives. A national constitutional amendment would need two-thirds of the states or two-thirds of Congress to call for one. And then any amendment would need to be ratified by 38 states, U.S. Term Limits says.

Hawaiʻi is in a similar boat. No term limits on state senators and House reps. And it would take a state constitutional amendment to get there if the people voted it in.

That is a perennial favorite of The Blog’s. It’s an issue that gets proposed every legislative session and every session goes nowhere. This year was no exception. House Bill 2428 was introduced and never got a hearing.

Interestingly, although it had a number of bipartisan sponsors, DeCorte, a Republican from the Westside, was not one of them. She has, however, been outspoken in her support of term limits, telling Civil Beat in a Candidate Q&A in 2022: “Yes, I support term limits for state legislators. I support existing term limits for the governor and would further support strengthening term limits for county councils. These measures in effect preclude any individual from accumulating too much influence or power within their respective legislative chamber, or branch of government. These measures are necessary to prevent corruption and an abuse of power, they would also provide for new voices and new perspectives in government.”

And now this: And finally today, The Blog would be remiss in not sharing the latest update from the Attorney General’s Office on the months-old investigation into the mystery lawmaker who may have taken a $35,000 bribe from someone somewhere sometime. The AG isn’t budging on her resolve not to say anything about anyone until she’s good and ready. This despite Gov. Josh Green teasing us a few weeks ago that this would all be revealed publicly soon, very soon.

Here’s the latest AG press release verbatim, which as you’ll see is more, let’s just say, succinct, than ever.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       

May 22, 2026

HONOLULU – The Department of the Attorney General issued its regular biweekly update regarding the ongoing public corruption investigation.

Since the last update, the department’s Special Investigation and Prosecution Division (SIPD) continues to review records, conduct interviews and evaluate information obtained through subpoenas.

Recent media coverage has generated additional public interest and speculation regarding the investigation. Because this remains an active criminal investigation, the department cannot confirm, deny, or respond to reports about specific investigative steps, including who may have been interviewed, contacted, subpoenaed, notified, or otherwise involved.

“I understand the public interest in this matter and remain committed to providing information when it is appropriate to do so,” said Attorney General Anne Lopez. “At the same time, I want to caution the public about relying on unverified claims or details circulating publicly. Protecting the integrity of the investigation and the rights of individuals involved remain essential. We ask for the opportunity to complete this work so that the facts can be presented responsibly and at the appropriate time. We continue to work as expeditiously as possible and I can assure residents of Hawaiʻi that this investigation remains one of our highest priorities.”