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Better late than never: If you weren’t able to spend weeks sitting in a federal courtroom in Honolulu listening to one of the most fascinating public corruption trials of the decade play out (and who could do that, really?) you can now read a lot of the juicy details in recently unsealed court documents.

Yes, there have been quite a few of those these days. But here The Sunshine Blog is talking about the pay-to-play bribery case involving former Honolulu prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, businessman and mega campaign donor Dennis Mitsunaga and various other associates. All were ultimately acquitted by a jury.

Numerous motions and responses and affidavits were being filed under seal because, prosecutors and defense attorneys contended, they all had to do with stuff that went on before the grand jury. Which, as we all know by now, is secret.

But not any more. The Public First Law Center has been making a systematic effort to open up court records that are being sealed, in this case as well as many others. And last week, the federal judge who presided over the Kaneshiro-Mitsunaga trial agreed that the records should be made public.

You can on the law center’s website, along with the legal arguments over why records filed in a court of law should largely be something the public can review.

Spoiler alert: The story of the alleged hitman that had been allegedly hired by one of the defendants to kill U.S. District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat is still not coming to light. Those records were not among the documents the law center sought to unseal because the investigation was still ongoing.

And, as far as The Blog knows, the case of the alleged hitman is still being probed by federal agents in Arizona, where it landed when it was determined investigators in Hawaii and California, where Wheat is based, might have a conflict of interest.

The K stands for kala: If dollars were votes, Mazie K. Hirono would be guaranteed absolute victory in the Aug. 10 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. The incumbent pulled in $463,000 in contributions , bringing her total for the current election cycle to a hefty $4.2 million.

Her two primary opponents, Ron Curtis and Clyde McClain Lewman, did not file reports with the Federal Elections Commission as of Friday. And two of the six Republicans in the running, , raised only tiny amounts — $2,292 and $15,119, respectively — for the statewide contest.

Hirono is also sitting on $2.2 million in cash, thanks to generous contributions from EMILY’s List and political action committees from J Street PAC, BAE Systems, Boeing, Eli Lilly, Matson and Hawaiian Airlines.

Individual donors include Hawaii Gas executive Alicia Moy, Hawaiian Electric executives Shelee Kimura and Scott Seu, First Hawaiian Bank executive Robert Harrison, Honolulu attorneys Michael Livingston and Carl Varady, Woody Hunt of Hunt Companies in Texas and singer Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Among Hirono’s largest campaign expenditures, meantime, were tens of thousands of dollars to Burdick Consulting Group of Chicago for direct mail services, and to The Kauffman Group of Washington, D.C., for fundraising consulting services.

Saying no to Bibi in D.C.: Speaking of the U.S. Senate, Hirono’s Democratic colleague, Brian Schatz, says he will not be in the audience when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address to Congress on Wednesday.

“Nine months after the atrocities of October 7 and the ensuing conflict, negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages are ongoing — and that should be the focus,” the senator said in a press release Friday. “Instead, Prime Minister Netanyahu is set to deliver what is clearly a partisan address to Congress just months ahead of our elections.”

Schatz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would welcome a “substantive discussion about the future, not political rhetoric that will do nothing to bring peace in the region.”

Another vacancy for the gov: The Blog happened to be tooling around Hilo last week as part of our series of pop-up election forums. It was touching to see campaign signs still up for Mark Nakashima, the state representative who died earlier this month.

Nakashima, a Democrat, was unopposed in both the primary and general election. Because the primary ballots have already been printed, his name will remain on the Aug. 10 primary ballot.

Nakashima’s replacement is now up to Hilo Democrats to select three candidates to send to Gov. Josh Green for his consideration. Green then has until mid-September to make his pick.

Politicking prohibited: And speaking of reporters and election coverage, you might have noticed a new disclosure in some of our news stories that explains our policy prohibiting our journalists from being involved in political campaigns. We felt it was important to make sure readers know that reporters are expected to stay out of the political arena except when it comes to voting.

Here are our rules:

Civil Beat journalists are strictly prohibited from political participation other than voting. We adhere to the  as well as the  for journalists. Staff members may not run for office, endorse or oppose candidates, contribute to or work for political campaigns or candidates. We don’t display campaign buttons, yard signs or bumper stickers or take part in marches or rallies in support of political causes or movements. They must inform their editor when a spouse or household member is involved with a political campaign or cause. These guidelines generally apply to non-editorial staff as well.

To be honest, it’s hard to be deeply involved covering the issues that affect a community — or a country — and not have an opinion or a preference. But we expect our staff to strive to keep their opinions to themselves and maintain integrity in the reporting process. The public trust is critical to our survival as an independent news organization.