Businessman Launches New Petition Drive To Oust Kaneshiro
Tracy Yoshimura already submitted nearly 900 online signatures to the Supreme Court, but now he’s collected paper signatures.
(AP) — A Honolulu businessman is gathering signatures from voters in his quest to impeach the city’s prosecuting attorney.
Tracy Yoshimura says he’s pursuing the petition because Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro received a U.S. Department of Justice letter informing him he’s a target in an ongoing public corruption investigation.
Yoshimura gathered 864 signatures on Change.org and submitted them to the 1st Circuit Court, but said Thursday he’s now getting signatures the old-fashioned way with pen and paper to ensure the names are certified.
The Justice Department’s corruption investigation has already resulted in indictments against former deputy prosecutor Katherine Kealoha and her now-retired police chief husband.
Bill McCorriston, an attorney representing Kaneshiro, says Yoshimura’s petition has some false information.
In 2014 and 2016, Kaneshiro’s office tried and failed to make an illegal gambling case against Yoshimura, who is a gaming machine distributor. Yoshimura is currently suing Kaneshiro in federal court for wrongful prosecution.
Hawaii’s attorney general has filed a separate petition asking the state Supreme Court to suspend Kaneshiro.
