Grand jury set in probe of mayor
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
City prosecutors will convene a grand jury on Tuesday as part of their 16-month probe of illegal campaign contributions to Mayor Jeremy Harris and others.
Witnesses who received subpoenas yesterday included state Campaign Spending Commission director Robert Watada.
He said he expected to be asked general questions about campaign spending laws, but did not know who had been targeted for prosecution in the secret proceeding.
Prosecutors are legally precluded from commenting on pending grand-jury actions, and said only that their investigation was continuing.
Dozens of companies and people have been fined over the past year for making campaign contributions that exceeded legal amounts, or for laundering contributions by providing others with money to donate, mostly to Harris.
The president of one firm, SSFM International, pleaded no contest to felony and misdemeanor charges for such activities in January and is awaiting sentencing. He agreed to cooperate with investigators on the eve of grand-jury proceedings to seek his indictment.
Prosecutors have issued hundreds of subpoenas over the past few months for financial records of others who gave heavily to Harris, including city contractors, engineers, architects, lawyers and accountants.
Harris' lawyer, William McCorriston, said the mayor had done nothing wrong and that prosecutors appeared to be casting about indiscriminately.
"It's a hukilau: throw the net and see what you catch," McCorriston said. "It's unconscionable to put the mayor under a cloud for this long. I don't see that there's any sincere effort to bring this to a conclusion."
He complained that Harris' campaign had been singled out, when other politicians had received similar improper donations, often from the same people and companies.
Lead prosecutor Randal Lee would not comment on details of the probe, but said investigators are approaching evidence without preconceptions and will examine it impartially.
At least two companies are trying to have the subpoenas quashed in court, records show. They are ParEn Inc./Park Engineering and R.M. Towill Corp., which both argue that the requests are unreasonably broad.
Both firms are major city contractors, but neither is expected to be the focus of Tuesday's proceedings.
Court records show that prosecutors are seeking bank statements, canceled checks, stock certificates, lists of employees, letters to and from politicians, campaign donation records, government contracts and other documents.
In a related matter, two theft trials of a woman who refused to testify before a previous grand jury probing contributions to Harris were postponed this week until late October.
Lisa-Katharine Otsuka is accused of stealing from a dance group and car-repair shop. Prosecutors were investigating her connection to a polling firm that worked for Harris' campaign committee, but filed no charges related to that activity.
Harris has repeatedly said that he does not know Otsuka and never encouraged anyone to make illegal donations to his campaign. The mayor has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
