Civil Beat revealed that the FBI recorded an unnamed Hawaii lawmaker receiving $35,000 from a man who was apparently trying to buy favors from local politicians – but the nonprofit news outlet also revealed that the Department of Justice has still not filed charges in the case, three years after recording the encounter. Civil Beat sued the FBI to obtain records and also combed through financial disclosures and other documents. The story has sparked renewed calls for government accountability in Hawaii, and multiple pieces of legislation have been introduced to crack down on pay-to-play politics in the state. The Fund provided a seed grant for some of Civil Beat’s early reporting on the subject.
Seed grant helps reporters uncover apparent pay-to-play corruption in Hawaii, prompting reform
