04-18-2024, 02:25 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-18-2024, 02:27 AM by HereOnThePrimalEdge.)
Readers of Punaweb will no doubt have the same reaction to this story as Captain Renault did in Casablanca, “I’m shocked! Shocked!
For the better part of a decade, some of Hawaii’s most powerful people huddled together at late-night parties in a cramped second-floor office where lobbyists and executives seeking government contracts lined up to drop cash and checks into a metal lockbox.
That was the entry fee for these extraordinary political fund-raisers. Inside the office, just a short walk from the State Capitol in downtown Honolulu, dozens of guests were served sushi prepared by professional chefs and unlimited beer and liquor. At the end of the night, Wesley Yonamine, the host and a high-ranking airport official, would, together with the politicians, pop open the box and dole out campaign contributions according to a list of pledges obtained before each event. As described by attendees, a typical party could bring in thousands of dollars in donations, giving some elected officials almost half their annual campaign haul in a single night.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/us/ha...tions.html
For the better part of a decade, some of Hawaii’s most powerful people huddled together at late-night parties in a cramped second-floor office where lobbyists and executives seeking government contracts lined up to drop cash and checks into a metal lockbox.
That was the entry fee for these extraordinary political fund-raisers. Inside the office, just a short walk from the State Capitol in downtown Honolulu, dozens of guests were served sushi prepared by professional chefs and unlimited beer and liquor. At the end of the night, Wesley Yonamine, the host and a high-ranking airport official, would, together with the politicians, pop open the box and dole out campaign contributions according to a list of pledges obtained before each event. As described by attendees, a typical party could bring in thousands of dollars in donations, giving some elected officials almost half their annual campaign haul in a single night.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/us/ha...tions.html