Hearings officer Steven Jacobson said that Inouye’s office pressured him to approve a conservation district permit for the controversial telescope planned for Haleakala. 

“I was advised that the pressure was generated by a staffer in U.S. Senator (Daniel) Inouye’s office, and applied through the Governor’s office,” Jacobson said in the document. “I was not asked to recommend a particular result, although the result Senator Inouye’s office wanted from the Board was clear. I did not see any evidence that anyone else (i.e. anyone in State Government), wanted any particular result, and the Board’s Chair, in particular, made clear that all he wanted to know was when this matter could be put on the Board’s calendar.

The contested case still has to go before the Board of Land and Natural Resources.