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LUM: So you're more or less paraphrasing what you understood Gary Safarik was <br />clarifying for that forum— "understood the legal issues discussed above "— <br />CHAIR: - -This was in his letter to Hunter -- <br />LUM: - -and it says "his comments " -- <br />ASHIDA: Yeah. <br />LUM: Okay. So you were just —all right. <br />ASHIDA: Yes. <br />LUM: Okay, thank you. <br />CHAIR: Now, I understand your motive behind this was to defend — number one, was to <br />defend the accusations against you and your office. <br />ASHIDA: That's part of it. <br />CHAIR: Okay, what else? <br />ASHIDA: Well, you know, these are serious —well, first of all, I'm really sorry that I'm <br />here, that I've had —it is embarrassing for me, I'll say that. And like I said in my letter, <br />we are —I respect anybody who's willing to run for public office, because it's not easy, <br />you know. And for that, Mr. Joseph, I'm sorry that you're here as well, and I apologize if <br />you feel that I intended any ill will towards you or anyone, because that was clearly not <br />my intent. But the other thing is that serious allegations have been made, and as we <br />speak right now they're not resolved. We in Hawai `i are self - governing as attorneys. We <br />as public servant government attorneys are held to a higher standard. Once the public <br />loses trust in our ability, that we are above board, that we are ultimately highly above <br />board in our ethical behavior and conduct, the whole system breaks down. Any time <br />anyone makes any allegation of ethical wrongdoing -in this case, even possible criminal <br />wrongdoing —and it involves attorneys of my staff, I am obliged to investigate it. I am <br />obliged, because if I don't investigate it and I don't report it, I let it go, I can be <br />disciplined. I can be disbarred for that. That's a big part of my motivation, Mr. Dill. <br />CHAIR: Okay, that being said, one of the concerns I have, whether or not you stated <br />that your intent was not to influence the election or to endorse one candidate or the <br />other, but a lot of what we deal with here, especially in the world of ethics, is based on <br />perception- <br />ASHIDA: -- That's correct. <br />CHAIR: And many things that we dealt with when Wayne was our chair had to do with <br />the public perception and the higher standards that board members and County officers <br />and employees are held to. I think just by doing this, you kind of went into that realm of <br />giving the impression that you were endorsing or playing politics, like Hunter Bishop <br />23 <br />