Attorneys for mayoral candidate Ben Cayetano said the former governor’s libel lawsuit against Pacific Resource Partnership aims to stop not just one group from its current campaign, but to prevent organizations from mounting similar attacks in the future.
"This case is about big money for big lies, and it’s about the future of elections in Hawaii," said Jim Bickerton, one of Cayetano’s attorneys. "It’s bigger than Ben vs. Kirk, and it’s bigger than rail vs. bus. It’s about whether we’re going to let secret, shadowy groups with unlimited funds pump lies into the public discourse."
Cayetano said he’s worried that the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows corporations and unions to spend an unlimited amount of money to support or oppose political candidates may have ushered in "a new era in politics," adding, "The people of this city have to decide whether they want to allow these things to go on, or to put a stop to it."
The lawsuit, filed Monday morning in state Circuit Court, alleges that PRP and its associates are conspiring to conduct a coordinated campaign of push polls, or politically biased polls, broadcast advertisements and fliers that falsely accuse Cayetano of knowingly accepting illegal campaign contributions, giving government contracts in exchange for contributions, and keeping contributions for personal gain.
It seeks punitive damages for allegedly defaming Cayetano’s character.
A spokeswoman for PRP, which has endorsed Kirk Caldwell for Honolulu mayor, said attorneys for the organization are reviewing the lawsuit and that neither White nor PRP would not comment until the review was completed.
Cayetano said he is filing the lawsuit now because PRP has continued its campaign despite his flat denials of the allegations. He said that in 28 years in politics, he has not experienced attacks like the ones he’s received this year. "I feel frustrated, I feel humiliated," he said. "There are times I feel very, very bad for my family because my wife and my kids are hurt by these. It hurts."
PRP has spent more than $1.2 million on its campaign urging the public to not vote for Cayetano.
The lawsuit names Pacific Resource Partnership, PRP Executive Director John White, PRP’s trustees, its political action committee, the Hawaii Carpenters Union and Hoakea Communications, the advertising agency helping to coordinate the campaign.
Michael Green, another Cayetano attorney, singled out White for his role in the campaign against Cayetano.
"Somebody has to stop a guy like White," Green said. "He’s trying to steal this election through money and power. We’re not going to let that happen."
PRP is a trade name for the Hawaii Carpenters Union Market Recovery Fund, a partnership between the carpenters union and unionized construction companies in the state, the organization’s website says.
"The mission of PRP is to build a stronger, more vibrant Hawaii, balancing the needs of our society, our economy and our environment, while taking into account the values that make Hawaii such a special place," the website says.
A PRP spokeswoman confirmed that the PRP is a trade name for the recovery fund. Money from the fund comes from contractors who contribute based on the number of hours worked by unionized employees. As a general policy, the organization does not disclose the names of its member contractors.
Bickerton said the organization should be clear about the companies that are contributing to the fund and, in effect, paying for the campaign.
"We don’t yet have the names of those companies," he said. "Part of the lawsuit will be to find out the names of those companies and to add them as defendants."
A libel lawsuit filed by a public figure is generally hard to win, said Bickerton, who has represented both those suing and being sued for libel in the past.
In this case "we’ve got the proof," BIckerton said. "This is one of the few times I’ve had a case where all of the parties are running polls day and night to check and see the impact that the words are having."
The PRP effort is having a negative impact on Cayetano’s reputation and campaign, he said. "They would not be running them if they weren’t having an impact."
When an initial wave of PRP ads attacking Cayetano came out in the summer, former state Campaign Spending Commission Executive Director Bob Watada stepped forward and called the former governor "one of the most honest persons I know" and appeared in Cayetano campaign commercials saying he is "appalled by the lies being spread about Ben Cayetano."
But Watada also acknowledged during a news conference with Cayetano that a pay-to-play culture existed during Cayetano’s years in office.
"There was definitely a culture … of if you wanted to get contracts from the city or state, then you had to make contributions," Watada said. "There were these people outside of the campaign who pretty much dictated to some of the local contractors about how much they had to give, if they wanted to get a contract later on."
He added, however, that he did not know whether Cayetano knowingly awarded a contract to a company based on a campaign contribution.
Bickerton reinforced that last point with reporters Monday, suggesting that PRP strung together "isolated facts" to form an untrue story.
PRP will "say it is true that some donors 15 years ago gave more than they were supposed to to Ben," Bickerton said. "That’s a true fact. And it’s a true fact that in every administration some people get no-bid contracts. That’s another true fact. But it was the way they put (the facts) together and linked them, and suggested that there was quid pro quo — and that they know isn’t true."
Bickerton said Caldwell has "not repeated the lies" in PRP’s campaign against Cayetano, but that he is disappointed that Caldwell has not spoken out against them. If similar attacks had been made against Caldwell, he would have expected Cayetano to speak out against the ads, he said.
Caldwell, in an email, said he and his campaign are barred from speaking to PRP "because it is against the law" to talk to third-party political action committees. He would not speak further about Cayetano’s lawsuit.
"As for my own campaign, my priority is to stay positive and focus on city issues and what’s best for the people of Honolulu," he said.
