Hawaii is reeling from one of the biggest corruption scandals in its history. Former State Senator J. Kalani English and former State Representative Ty Cullen pleaded guilty in February 2022 to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes while in office. As early as 2014, and continuing through at least 2020, state and local politicians were raking in campaign contributions at late-night fundraising parties.
Hawaii had passed an anti-corruption law in 2005 that was heralded as one of the country’s most ambitious efforts to end pay-to-play government contracts.
Join journalists from The Times and Honolulu Civil Beat, a nonprofit newsroom, for a hybrid discussion about how they exposed systemic failures in Hawaii’s reform efforts. 10:30 a.m. Hawaii time (4:30 p.m. Eastern time) on Wednesday July 10. Register here.
Blaze Lovell, the reporter, and Dean Baquet, who edited the investigation, will discuss the project, which included an analysis of hundreds of thousands of campaign contributions and more than 70,000 government contracts. The conversation will be moderated by Patti Epler, Civil Beat’s editor and managing director.
To register for the event and to submit a question for the panelists, go to Civil Beat’s events pageEveryone who registers will receive a link to the recording.
The event is based on reporting from The Times Fellowship for local researchan initiative that gives local journalists a year to research their communities.
