In response to a request from The Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright decided to hear arguments over whether e-mails to and from former Lingle chief of staff Bob Awana should be kept secret.

"When you have a public official involved in potentially inappropriate public conduct, there are strong reasons why the public should have access," said Peter Olson, who represents the AP, after the court hearing.

Awana, who resigned after the case came to light, was blackmailed for arranging dates with him and businessmen during an official trade mission led by Lingle to the Philippines in January 2006, according to the attorney for the blackmailer.

Rajdatta Patkar was sentenced to a year in prison Oct. 29 after he pleaded guilty to extortion for trying to blackmail Awana for $35,000. Patkar has already served most of his term and is expected to be deported to his native India.

Lingle, a Republican, has refused to answer any questions about the blackmail case or Awana, who was her campaign manager in 1998, 2002 and 2006 and oversaw all state agencies until his abrupt resignation June 28.

The gag order on the e-mails came as a result of a July 2 agreement between Patkar's attorney, Pamela Byrne, and federal prosecutors while they negotiated how to handle sensitive documents in the case.

Byrne said she wants the e-mails involving Awana's relationship with women in the Philippines to be released.

"A public official behaving poorly is always in the public interest," she said. "I would love for everyone to have it."

The judge indicated he was not inclined to remove the gag order. Prosecutors said they don't want the e-mails revealed out of concern for Awana's privacy as the victim.

"I think there's a lot of merit to your position," Seabright told prosecutors, "but I will hear from The Associated Press and keep an open mind about it."

The judge will have to weigh Awana's privacy rights against the public's right to know details about a public official's behavior while representing Hawai'i on official government trips, Olson said.

The blackmail case has led to a federal investigation into the behavior of state officials and other members of the governor's trade missions to China, South Korea and the Philippines over the last three years, The Honolulu Advertiser has reported.

Patkar's attorney has said he is cooperating in an investigation, but no details of the investigation have been made public and there was no mention of it in Wednesday's hearing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Connors cited a privacy law protecting "the victim's dignity and privacy" in opposing the e-mails' release.

"He is a victim of a crime. It doesn't matter that he is a public figure," Connors said. "He has certain rights."

The e-mails are discovery documents that have never been part of the public record. But the court's gag order prevents Byrne from releasing them.