Hawaii's Democratic lieutenant governor faces bribery charges, covernor calls for her to resign

The Democratic lieutenant governor of Hawaii, Sylvia Luke, was indicted by a state grand jury on alleged charges of conspiracy to commit bribery.

According to the indictment filed by the Honolulu County District Attorney's Office, the events under investigation occurred in 2022, when Luke chaired the Finance Committee of the state House of Representatives.

Prosecutors allege that businessman and lobbyist Tobi Solidum, who was seeking to secure state funding for a community-based COVID-19 testing program operated by his company, agreed to make substantial contributions to Luke's political campaign in exchange for her using the influence of her office to favor that project.

The charges include bribery by a public official and falsification of campaign finance reports in a case related to an alleged corruption scheme linked to contracts for a community-based COVID-19 testing program.

Along with Luke, former state Rep. Ryan Yamane, businessman and lobbyist Tobi Solidum, Department of Transportation official Ford Fuchigami, and former Public Utilities Commission Director Leo Asunción face various charges related to the same case.

According to the indictment, during a dinner held in January 2022, Solidum gave Luke two checks for $5,000 each intended for his campaign committee. According to the investigation, the businessman promised to contribute a total of $70,000 and told him, "By next week, we'll have 35, so we'll be halfway to 70," referring to the amount he expected to give him for his campaign.

Prosecutors argue that these contributions were part of an alleged agreement for Luke to use the influence of his office to benefit the program promoted by Solidum.

"The Attorney General announced significant developments in her department’s corruption investigation and has provided an update on their findings," said Josh Green, governor of Hawaii.

"The Lieutenant Governor needs to consider formally resigning to address this matter and so that the state of Hawai'i can move forward," he added.

Luke, elected lieutenant governor in 2022, requested an indefinite leave of absence in April, when the investigation into her campaign financing became public. Since then, the office of lieutenant governor has been held by Keith Regan, the state comptroller.