Furtado

Maui County Council candidate Trinette Furtado said that records from her unsuccessful 2016 council run are accurate and that she intends to contest the state Campaign Spending Commission’s preliminary findings that she violated campaign spending law.

In an email statement to The Maui News on Monday afternoon, Furtado, who is running again for the Makawao-Haiku-Paia residency seat this election cycle, offered a response to the commission’s October complaint, which focuses on 2016 contributions and a $10,000 loan from John Grant, her partner who died in May 2017.

The complaint filed by the commission alleged an excess contribution violation, filing of false reports, prohibited use of campaign funds, late filing of a second preliminary primary report and failure to timely repay a loan.

In her first response to The Maui News after several inquiries since last week, Furtado explained that in early 2016, Grant lent her candidate committee $1,900 to get the campaign started. Six months later, a few weeks before the election, Grant wrote a campaign loan check for $10,000. Furtado said both checks were compliant with rules and regulations.

The candidate committee was new and “mistakenly interpreted the rules,” believing that Grant only was allowed to provide $10,000 to the campaign, she said. So the loan was reduced by $1,900 to stay under the $10,000 limit.

She said Grant requested that the $1,900 reimbursement check be written to cash. It has been verified that Grant deposited it into his personal bank account, Furtado added.

The $1,900 was returned within the required 30-day time frame to the lender and deposited into the lender’s personal bank account in compliance with campaign spending rules, she said.

On Oct. 28, 2016, the $8,100 loan was verified and signed by Grant, Furtado said.

“My reports and documentation reflect exactly the truth; that $1,900 was donated in March and April 2016, and $8,100 was loaned in October 2016,” Furtado said in the email.

In Furtado’s response to The Maui News and in a video posted over the weekend on her campaign Facebook page, Furtado said: “We intend to contest these preliminary findings and present the truth at a hearing. This will be useful information for the public and committees to have in the interest of transparency and accountability.”

Prior to Furtado issuing her statement to The Maui News, Gary Kam, general counsel for the Campaign Spending Commission, viewed the Facebook post Monday morning. The video on Facebook does not give specific details of the loan but does note Furtado’s documents are accurate.

Kam questioned why Furtado or her campaign have not responded to the commission since Aug. 9. Several letters were sent to her prior to the October preliminary decision.

Kam said the commission’s letter regarding the October decision may not have reached Furtado because she had moved from her Haiku address earlier that month and not updated her address with the commission.

Under law, Furtado is required to update her address, he added.

Kam also sent a copy of the letter to her campaign chairman, Brian Bardellini. Because Furtado did not provide any updated address, Kam said he had no choice but to send the letter to the Haiku address.

About Furtado’s recent response and comments, Kam said: “If you have something to say, say it before the commission votes on it.”

Kam could not be reached for additional comment after Furtado issued her email statement about the loan to The Maui News on Monday afternoon.

On Oct. 17, the commission took action on a staff complaint against Furtado, finding probable cause of campaign spending violations, assessing a $2,250 fine and ordering remedial action.

In addition to the fine, the commission ordered Furtado to pay $1,900 from her own funds to reimburse her campaign and to remit $1,800 in excess contributions to the Hawaii Election Fund within 20 days. She also was ordered to correct her campaign spending reports and to use her campaign funds to repay the $7,900 balance of a loan.

In her last campaign spending report filed Oct. 29, Furtado reported a deficit of $3,942.27. She started the Aug. 12-Oct. 22 reporting period with $3,772.79, raised $4,829.19, spent $4,644.25, but owed a loan of $7,900.

Campaign Spending Commission Executive Director Kristin Izumi-Nitao told The Maui News on Oct. 18 that the commission did not receive any response from Furtado to its complaints or reports. Izumi-Nitao said the commission tried to contact Furtado to understand what happened with her campaign spending reports, but when there was no response or information provided, the commission staff filed a complaint.

The issues arose from a June 12, anonymous tip that contained a copy of a Bank of Hawaii check, dated Oct. 11, 2016, that showed a loan amount of $10,000 by Grant.

The check was deposited two days later into the campaign account. The campaign had reported $8,100, not $10,000, according to the commission complaint.

The commission issued a subpoena seeking Furtado’s banking records from Oct. 1, 2016, to Dec. 31, 2016. It showed that in addition to the $10,000 check from Grant, there was a check drawn from the campaign account in the amount of $1,900, made payable to “CASH” for “Reimb. of overpymt. of campaign loan” on Nov. 2, 2016.

The $1,900 expenditure was not reported by the Furtado campaign to the commission, the complaint said.

The commission counted the $1,900 taken from the $10,000 loan as an additional contribution from Grant, which — added to earlier contributions of $500 and $1,400 — totaled $3,800 or $1,800 in excess of the $2,000 donation limit for a County Council candidate.

In the video and in her email response, Furtado said: “The Maui News has mis-framed the facts in an attempt to harm my character for political advantage. We have reached out to the Campaign Spending Commission on several occasions. My campaign manager has discussed a reconciliation agreement with both the commission and myself, as well as made numerous unreturned phone calls. Our phone records verify this.”

She added that the anonymous complaint received by the commission that led to her case is invalid “as the law requires the disclosure of the source of the complaints, so as to protect a committee and candidate from a political foe or other adversary attempting to utilize the campaign finance commission to advance an improper agenda or to attempt to embarrass a sitting public official for future political gain.”

Furtado said that the “abnormal behavior from the commission was also used in efforts against my employer.”

She alluded to the campaign spending issues surrounding Council Member Alika Atay. Furtado serves as a legislative and policy analyst for Atay.

The state Campaign Spending Commission levied a $2,700 fine on the Atay campaign and the candidate for violating campaign spending laws, including two counts of unauthorized handling of campaign funds. And, the commission charged Atay with five counts of making false reports, noting inconsistencies between bank records and reports filed by Atay with the commission.

Furtado later added: “The basis for the inquiry was an invalid anonymous complaint, and there is confusion as to how the decision to move forward with some complaints and not others are made. With the apparent intentional breaches of the commission’s administrative rules, and the facts proving the loan documents and campaign report accurately reflect the transactions; we intend to contest these preliminary findings and present the truth at a hearing.”

Kam said that he has not received any communication from Furtado or her campaign regarding the matter. He said he has not received any mail, phone messages or email messages.

There has been no agreement worked out with the commission, he said.

Kam added that there is no “reconciliation agreement” as noted by Furtado in the video. He said the commission does work out “conciliation” agreements, which wouldn’t apply in this case.

As for Furtado’s issue with the anonymous complaint, Kam explained that Izumi-Nitao brought the complaint to the commission for a hearing, which is allowed.

He said that many tips or informal complaints are brought to the commission anonymously. The commission staff examines the claims to see if they deal with campaign spending issues. If they do, Izumi-Nitao then can bring those findings in a complaint to commission members.

He said the Furtado complaint was not an unusual process.

Kam said the administrative rules Furtado mentions, relates to a third-party complaint that is brought directly to commission members. These are not anonymous, he said.

Furtado is facing former Council Member Mike Molina in today’s general election.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.