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Elder security: The Sunshine Blog was probably not the only one surprised to see a federal judge throw 82-year-old Dennis Mitsunaga behind bars and order him to stay there for what could be weeks, if not longer depending on how the trial goes.

So The Blog read with interest the government’s motion laying out the reasons the prominent Honolulu businessman was such a threat he must stay locked up for the duration of the trial. And, in another wow moment in a trial that has plenty of those, there’s even another grand jury inquiry involving the whole witness tampering thing that landed Mitsunaga in the slammer.

Previously on The Kaneshiro-Mitsunaga Show, the feds found out that Mitsunaga or someone on his side of the courtroom had shared secret grand jury documents with a witness in the case. That caused a stir and a protective order that said, in essence: Hey, don’t hand that stuff out to people who aren’t actually charged in this crazy case or you’ll be in real trouble.

But then the feds found out Mitsunaga had actually asked someone to approach a witness — former Honolulu cop Rudy Alivado — to get Alivado to, let’s just say, revise what he’d told a grand jury about work he’d had done on his house.

“Mitsunaga suggests some mental health issue may have contributed to obstructive conduct,” federal prosecutors wrote in the motion opposing release from jail. “But the facts show Mitsunaga exercised cunning and guile to evade the Court’s no-contact order … and tamper with Rudy Alivado through an intermediary.”

You can read the facts he’s referring to here:

The government argues that this is not an isolated incident but that the Mitsunaga “apparatus has been activated in full force to obstruct justice and prevent the truth from coming out.”

The feds say those facts are (allegedly) laid out in a bunch of motions that The Blog would love to read. But unfortunately, or perhaps not coincidentally, the motions are all heavily redacted or filed under seal so we really can’t see if Mitsunaga did something more heinous than trying to keep his old pal Alivado from telling the truth and thus needs to be housed in the federal hoosegow at considerable taxpayer expense.

So far, The Blog’s just not seeing it.

And what the heck is going on with that hitman, by the way?

Lawyers 280, Victims 42: And speaking of legal drama, the hits just keep on coming for Hawaiian Electric Co., Maui County and other defendants in the growing number of cases filed in connection with the deadly Aug. 8 Maui wildfires.

The month of April has seen an avalanche of cases filed in Maui’s Second Circuit Court — at least 162 new cases to be exact, bringing the total number to at least 280.

Stay tuned though, lawyers have predicted as many as 1,000 individual lawsuits could be filed.

Meanwhile, as of Friday 42 applications had been received by the One Ohana Fund that would pay the families of the 101 people known to have died in the Lahaina blaze $1.5 million each if they agree not to sue.

Seems like the $175 million fund is not going to do much to spare the defendants (that’s us, by the way) billions of dollars in damage claims. But hey, who’s counting? Besides The Blog.

Motion commotion: The Sunshine Blog noted in January how Rowena Akana, a former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee, violated the state code of ethics for accepting $21,000 in illegal gifts and for inappropriate use of her spending allowance.

Akana used OHA money to pay for internet and cable TV service and food for herself and others. She was fined $23,106.

But Akana then took her case to the Hawaii Supreme Court, hoping to get a sympathetic audience for her novel contention that the Hawaii State Ethics Commission does not have jurisdiction over OHA. And now OHA itself is considering joining her cause.

In a preliminary filing with the high court last week, attorneys for OHA led by former Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Robert Klein questioned whether the Ethics Commission actually has authority to shape how OHA trustees use proceeds from ceded lands, which help fund the agency.

After all, Klein pointed out, the delegates to the 1978 constitutional convention that established OHA intended that it be independent from the executive branch and all other branches of government while assuming the status of a state agency.

The outcome of Akana’s appeal, Klein and other attorneys argued, would go well beyond her case and could hinder OHA and its trustees from doing their jobs.

The Ethics Commission wants the court to dismiss the case. On Friday the high court denied OHA’s motion but has not yet ruled on whether to accept Akana’s appeal.

Six years and counting on this case …

Sweet charity: Among the bills that cleared Friday’s conference committee deadline and are set for final floor votes Wednesday are two that come in response to recent news reports in Civil Beat.

will let the Attorney General’s Office regulate charitable fundraising platforms and platform charities. The measure is intended to ensure the prevention of fraudulent and predatory charitable fundraising behavior. It was authored by Sen. Judiciary Committee Chair Karl Rhoads and Sen. Angus McKelvey, who lost his home to the Lahaina fires.

James Barros, administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Authority, is “a good faith measure” that will help identify charitable fundraising platforms and assure that they
are legitimate and in good standing with the state.

During an emergency period and before a person can complete a donation, the charitable organization will be required to fulfill all reporting requirements outlined in the bill to ensure transparency about where the money is actually going.

“This prevents any likelihood of deception, confusion, or misunderstanding,” .

Similarly, creates the offense of charitable fraud during a state of emergency. Lawmakers explain in the measure’s committee reports that natural disasters “present an opportunity” for persons to fraudulently solicit contributions for disaster relief victims.

SB 2693 says that charitable fraud includes the use of contributions that are used in a manner “other than the specific purposes” represented by the charity at the time the contribution was solicited.

In September, House Speaker Scott Saiki asked Attorney General Anne Lopez to institute an auditing process to ensure funds raised for Maui wildfire relief go to victims. His request followed the publication of a Civil Beat article about a Hawaii super PAC that raised money for relief that might end up being used for political candidates and activities.

The AG also audited another controversial fundraiser for wildfire survivors after questions were raised about its operations and where the money went.

Aloha oe: The Public Access Room at the Hawaii Legislature has helped The Blog and many a reporter many times with questions about bills and related matters. So we bid a bittersweet aloha to Virginia Beck, who has served as the Legislative Reference Bureau’s long-time coordinator at PAR.

Beck, who previously worked as a session hire in PAR for two legislative sessions, became a permanent PAR staff member in 2007 and became the PAR coordinator in 2015. She will retire May 31. 

“The Senate and the House of Representatives profoundly appreciates Virginia for her many years of public service, tireless dedication, patience, perseverance, enthusiasm, wisdom, warmth, and grace, and will be eternally grateful that public servants like Virginia exist,” Senate President Ron Kouchi and House Speaker Scott Saiki said in a joint statement released Friday.

Succeeding Beck will be Andrea “Andy” Langhurst Eickholt, who joined PAR for the last two legislative sessions.