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CHAIR KK: Just for verification here, originally he was asked whether the candidate could <br />raise more funds, or it was ruled by the Campaign Spending Commission that <br />he could not raise more funds. <br />DE LIMA: Mr. Watada told him <br />CHAIR KK: - -Mr. Watada made that —and as it turned out, it was incorrect. <br />DE LIMA: That's correct. <br />CHAIR KK: <br />Did they, did they themselves make that determination, the Campaign <br />Spending <br />DE LIMA: <br />- -WeMr. Arakaki and myself met with the Campaign Spending <br />Commission, I think it was the last time that you guys had a meeting <br />scheduled. What happened was they sent us a notice saying we're going to <br />have this matter heard on October 12, or whatever date it was. We went up, <br />we met with Mr. Watada himself, their new executive director, Grant <br />Tanimoto, a staff member, and they acknowledged the accuracy of Mr. <br />Oshiro's letter, and Mr. Watada acknowledged that he did give <br />CHAIR KK: <br />- -Mr. Oshiro <br />DE LIMA: <br />- -from the Friends of, Friends for Arakaki campaign. <br />CHAIR KK: <br />Oh, okay, right. <br />DE LIMA: So Exhibit "A" that I attached to my affidavit is the letter that he wrote to the <br />Commission, which acknowledged he had a conversation with Mr. Watada, <br />and Mr. Watada represented that they couldn't raise any more funds. And that <br />was incorrect. You can raise money, but it's limited to the campaign spending <br />limit at the time, can be used to pay off existing campaign debts, and if you—if <br />you run for another office, you're limited by the amount of money contributed <br />during the new election cycle. <br />CHAIR KK: And when you say campaign debts, that legal defense fund is considered a <br />campaign debt? <br />DE LIMA: For the purpose of which they had intended, it was considered. In fact, they <br />had earlier indicated that the expenditure of funds for which Mr. Arakaki was <br />spending for legal fees was a legitimate campaign expense, because it was <br />directly tied to his eligibility to seek office. There are some real strict <br />requirements on what you can use your campaign monies for, and they <br />checked before they expended the money for legal fees. <br />CHAIR KK: There were some gifts that were —that exceeded campaign limits? <br />7 <br />