Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez Updates Ongoing Public Corruption Probe

Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez told reporters on Feb. 13 that her office has opened a state criminal investigation into possible public corruption after federal prosecutors agreed to transfer evidence to the Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General. Lopez said the probe centers on federal court materials alleging an “influential state legislator” accepted approximately $35,000, and that her Special Investigations and Prosecutions Division has issued multiple subpoenas and completed several interviews.

“I cannot name names,” Lopez said at the briefing. “I cannot tell you what evidence we’ve received, and I can’t tell you whether or not a crime has been committed. Revealing this information could jeopardize not only the rights of the suspect or suspects of this investigation, but the entire case.” She added that “the criminal investigation must be conducted methodically and carefully” and confirmed subpoenas and interviews have already been carried out.

Lopez identified supervising deputy David Van Acker as the lead prosecutor on the matter and described the SIPD team as including one supervising deputy supported by two deputy attorneys general, two investigators and two analysts. The Special Investigations and Prosecutions Division was created by the Legislature in 2022 to handle public corruption cases, and Lopez said she will rely on its recommendations: “I am not going to substitute my judgment for their recommendations. They will come and they will make a recommendation to me, and I will follow that recommendation.”

Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke acknowledged a connection to the federal bribery matter and said she would not comment further while the review is ongoing, adding she has “confidence the process will follow the facts.” That acknowledgment intensified public pressure and prompted calls for recusal or an independent prosecutor from government accountability advocates who say the executive branch cannot investigate itself. The coalition of organizations urged an arm’s-length process, saying, “The Executive Branch cannot investigate itself.”

Toni Schwartz, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Lopez, rejected calls for recusal, saying that “recusal is appropriate when there is a legal conflict of interest. In this case, there is none.” Outside critics pressed the point: a critic identified as Silvert said the probe should “explain the story of the $35,000 and now also probe Luke’s failure to timely disclose the $10,000 she received,” and warned that a failure to recuse would “look like a cover-up.”

Lopez also disclosed she accepted $10,000 in campaign contributions from someone identified as Solidum and his daughter, and that she returned those funds two months after former lawmakers Ty Cullen and Kalani English pleaded guilty in the federal case. Lopez denied receiving $35,000 in cash. The Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission has opened a separate inquiry into possible campaign finance violations.

Timeline details in the record include an allegation that the $35,000 was accepted “in a paper bag during a January 2022 meeting,” an October 2025 petition that pressed lawmakers to investigate after federal court documents surfaced, and Lopez’s statement that federal authorities informed state officials a little over three weeks before the Feb. 13 briefing that they would provide evidence. Lopez committed to public updates every two weeks and said her team was “working literally day and night to bring this investigation to a conclusion prior to” the August primary.

Gaps remain: first names for Solidum and the critic Silvert are not in the public record, the attorney general declined to name any suspects, the Campaign Spending Commission’s inquiry has no reported outcome yet, and one news outlet’s page header shows an April 23, 2025 date that does not align with the Feb. 13 briefing timeline.