HAWAII GOP CHAIR CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF BIDEN NOMINEE FOR US MARSHALL

“Symbolic of Widespread Corruption in Hawaii”

News Release from Hawaii Republican Party, June 2, 2022

(Honolulu, HI) – Lynn Finnegan, Chair of the Hawai‘i Republican Party, today called for the Biden Administration to immediately withdraw the nomination of Michael Contrades as US Marshall for Hawai‘i. In addition, Finnegan said she will be urging all Republican members of the United States Senate to vote against Contrades and that she and other Hawai‘i Republicans will actively work against his nomination.

(NOTE: Contrades is a former Kai Kahele staffer.)

“There’s widespread and rampant corruption in government here in Hawai‘i. Contrades is an ethically-compromised individual who has already been involved in a public scandal that cost taxpayers almost $2 million, and now the Democrats want him to serve as one of the federal government’s top two law enforcement officials in the state. The Contrades nomination is a terrible idea and further erodes public trust,” commented Finnegan.

Media reports have revealed that Michael Contrades, a former Assistant Chief and Acting Chief for the Kauai Police Department, was one of the key defendants named in a federal retaliation lawsuit that the County settled for $1.8 million. Records show that Contrades actively retaliated against and harassed a fellow Assistant Chief who had filed a workplace discrimination complaint on behalf of a female officer who had reported corruption. 

“We have witnessed two state legislators, Honolulu’s Police Chief, Honolulu’s Prosecuting Attorney, Honolulu’s Managing Director, a City Attorney, a Police Commissioner and various other government officials implicated in different acts of public corruption in recent years. And the federal government, led by the US Marshall for Hawai‘i, has played a key role in investigating and exposing these recent cases involving crooked State and City leaders. Clearly, there is much more corruption in Hawai‘i that needs to be uncovered,” she said.

“An ethically-compromised individual like Mr. Contrades sitting in such an important law enforcement position could easily cripple efforts to further investigate corruption here. Some very important people in the Hawai‘i Democratic Party politics know that and wanted the politically-connected Mr. Contrades installed to hamper any future federal government investigations. The Biden Administration has been misled by local Democrats,” continued Finnegan.

“I will be urging all Republican U.S. Senators to vote against the Contrades nomination, and I and other Hawai‘i Republicans will be working to defeat this badly flawed nomination,” Finnegan concluded.

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