Colleen Hanabusa on Principles & Values

Got $75M tax credit for Ko Oilna, and husband got $400,000

Hanabusa led the drive to get lawmakers to approve the Ko Olina tax credit in 2002 and 2003, but the bill was written so that only developer Jeff Stone could benefit from it. Less than a month after the $75 million tax credit was approved, Stone sold a luxury Ko Olina townhouse to Hanabusa's then-fiance Souza. One of Stone's companies financed the sale by lending Souza $405,773 for the purchase.

Souza, who is now Hanabusa's husband and campaign chairman, bought the Kai Lani townhouse for $569,023 in mid-2003 and sold it for $990,000 in Jan. 2004. Hanabusa noted that Stone claimed only $3.45 million of the $75 million tax credit, and said there "has never been any wrongdoing found" in connection with the tax credit.

Lost campaigns in 2003 & 2006 before winning in 2010

AMONG TWO-TIME LOSERS:
• Rep. Steve Stockman, R-TX, elected in 1994, lost primary in 1990, general election in 1992.
• Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, elected to the House in 1998, lost primary in 1982, general election in 1988

THREE-TIME LOSERS:
• Rep. Paul Broun, R-GA, elected in 2006, lost general election in 1990, primary in 1992, Senate primary in 1996
• Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-HI, elected in 2010, lost primary in 2006, special elections in 2003 and 2010
• Rep. Collin Peterson, D-MN, elected in 1990, lost primaries in 1982 and 1988, general elections in 1984 and 1986.
• Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-VT, elected to the House in 1990, lost general elections for the Senate in 1972 and 1974 and for the House in 1988.
• Rep. Juan Vargas, D-CA, elected in 2012, lost primaries in 1992, 1996 and 2006.

OpEd: Too old to build seniority to steer pork to Hawaii

A new path is what Abercrombie had in mind when he picked Schatz, saying, "It had everything to do with the future and the past." The governor said he thought Hanabusa, now 62, was too old to build enough seniority in the Senate to continue Inouye's legacy of steering an outsize allowance of federal money to Hawaii. Abercrombie noted: "Brian Schatz is 41. Colleen isn't. She's in her 60s."

Hanabusa said Abercrombie's focus on her age is "rather offensive." Hanabusa sounded angry and at times bitter that Abercrombie passed her over for Schatz. "It's like saying to the voters, 'Here's somebody who's going to be there forever.' No one should feel that level of entitlement."

Question Trump on Emoluments clause.

Excerpts from Letter from 17 Senators to Trump Organization: The Trump Organization's continuing financial relationship with President Trump raises concerns about whether it is a pass-through for income that violates the Constitution's two Emoluments Clauses: Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 on foreign Emoluments; and Article II, Clause 7 on domestic Emoluments. Please answer the following questions to help Congress understand:

• When the Trump Organization receives income from a government agency, how is that income segregated & reported?
• How does the Trump Organization determine if income is derived from foreign governments?
• Trump promised to "donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotels to the US Treasury." Has the Trump Organization created a mechanism to make such payments?
• What is the estimated value of the 38 Chinese trademarks recently awarded to the Trump Organization? And the reported 157 pending trademark applications in 36 countries?

Legal Analysis: (Cato Institute, "Emoluments Clause vs. Trump Empire," 11/29/16): The wording of the Emoluments clause points one way to resolution: Congress can give consent, as it did in the early years of the Republic to presents received by Ben Franklin. It can decide what it is willing to live with in the way of Trump conflicts. If it misjudges public opinion, it will pay a political price at the next election.

FOIA argument: (ACLU Center for Democracy, "FOIA Request," 1/19/17): We filed our first Freedom of Information Act request of the Trump Era, seeking documents relating President Trump's conflicts of interest relating to his business connections. When Trump took the oath of office, he didn't take the steps necessary to ensure that he and his family's business interests comply with the Constitution. Some have even argued that upon taking the oath of office, the new president is already violating the Emoluments Clause.