Barry Fukunaga Honolulu Advertiser file photo

Lingle named deputy transportation director Brennon Morioka to replace Fukunaga as acting transportation director.

The governor sharply criticized media reports suggesting that federal authorities are investigating whether members of state delegations to Asia conducted themselves improperly.

An Indian national who pleaded guilty to extortion here had attempted to blackmail Awana over his online relationship with a woman in the Philippines.

Lingle called the relationship a "personal matter" for Awana and said she had seen no evidence of misconduct on official state trips and knew of no ongoing probe.

"I have never been contacted once, directly or indirectly" by investigators, said Lingle, who criticized the news media's "appetite for salacious details."

Lingle said discovery documents under a court protective order in relation to the extortion case should be publicly released if a judge determines they address allegations of impropriety on state trips. Otherwise, the information should remain sealed, she said.

The Associated Press has petitioned the court to release copies of e-mails between Awana and Rajdatta Patkar, who attempted to extort money from Awana after learning of Awana's online relationship with his Filipina girlfriend. Patkar was sentenced in October to one year in prison.

The Advertiser has reported that the e-mails are also evidence in two separate, open investigations by federal agents based on Guam and in Honolulu.

The Guam-based probe focuses on a Saipan waste-management contract awarded in 2002.

Awana has denied the government's accusations that he bribed government officials in Saipan to secure a contract worth more than $1 million to run a landfill in the U.S. territory from 2002 to 2007.

Awana has not been charged with a crime, and Saipan Gov. Benigno Repeki Fitial, a Democrat, canceled the contract in 2005. The contract originally was awarded to Saipan Waste Management during Republican Gov. Juan N. Babauta's term.

The federal probe in Honolulu is looking at the behavior of Awana and other state officials on Lingle administration-led trade missions to the Philippines, China and South Korea, and other accusations, the Advertiser has reported.

As part of Patkar's plea deal with the government, he has agreed to cooperate with investigators in both probes.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright is expected to rule on release of the e-mails sometime after Jan. 4. The Advertiser is not involved in the case.