David Louie, Hawaii’s top law enforcement official, disclosed details of an ongoing investigation of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to a then-deputy of the agency who was implicated in the probe, according to a secret recording of a private meeting at the governor’s office.

The disclosure came at a Dec. 7 meeting in which Bruce Coppa, Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s chief of staff, offered then-DHHL Deputy Director Michelle Kau­hane an $85,000-a-year job as deputy to the state’s homeless coordinator, who is in another state agency.

Louie, the only other person in the room, told Kau­hane that an investigation uncovered evidence that she had issued a directive incompatible with her continuing as DHHL’s deputy, and that if she were to take the homeless job, "the incompatibility is not as manifest," according to the recording.

Kauhane, who secretly recorded the discussion on her cellphone, refused the offer, telling Coppa and Louie that she would continue working at DHHL and wouldn’t go elsewhere unless dismissed.

"That’s the only way I’m leaving DHHL," Kau­hane told them. "You don’t want me there, fire me."

She was fired several days later by Jobie Masa­ga­tani, DHHL director-designate, who faces a confirmation vote soon by the Senate as Abercrombie’s choice to lead DHHL.

Kauhane has accused the Abercrombie administration of trying to bully her into leaving DHHL and questioned whether the agency is permitted to use its funds to pay the salary of a non-DHHL staffer.

She made the accusations publicly for the first time Wednesday at Masa­ga­tani’s confirmation hearing. But even though one senator on the Senate Committee on Tourism and Hawaiian Affairs called her allegations "pretty hard-hitting testimony," no one from the panel asked Masa­ga­tani about them.

Neither Coppa nor Louie would comment on what was discussed at the December meeting because it was a personnel matter, Abercrombie spokes­woman Louise Kim McCoy said Friday after the recording was released.

McCoy said Kauhane recorded the meeting without the others’ knowledge.

That is not against the law in Hawaii.

The recording provides an extraordinary peek into how top state officials were dealing with an ongoing controversy at an embattled state agency in which the two top executives were barely speaking to each other and rarely met face to face.

In her testimony at the confirmation hearing, Kau­hane said she had never experienced a more hostile work environment than one created by Masa­ga­tani.

Kauhane, who was appointed by Abercrombie to the deputy position and applied for but didn’t get the director job that eventually went to Masa­ga­tani, released copies of the recording to the media. She said she did so to expose what she called an abuse of power in state government that often remains hidden from the public.

"This is not a personal issue," Kau­hane told the Star-Advertiser. "This is much bigger. It’s not even an issue about Hawaiians."

The bullying and intimidation represent "the unspoken politics of Hawaii that people don’t want to believe," Kau­hane added. "But when I witness it, it’s stunning."

In a written statement, McCoy said DHHL funds regularly are used to pay the salaries of personnel from other departments whose services are exclusively furthering the mission of DHHL. The agency was created to benefit those who are at least 50 percent Native Hawaiian.

At the December meeting in his office, Coppa said the job offered Kau­hane would focus on homelessness for Hawaiians, according to the recording. The homeless coordinator, Colin Kippen, works within the Department of Human Services.

Minutes after Coppa made the job offer, Louie told Kau­hane that he doesn’t normally talk about ongoing investigations, but noted that Kau­hane had asked about it and that she was "somewhat involved."

He said the investigation uncovered evidence, including an email and witness statements, that she had issued a directive regarding blood quantum that was contrary to law and that was incompatible with her continuing as deputy director, according to the recording.

Kauhane did not dispute his statement during the meeting.

The issue centered on Kau­hane’s directive that the agency not recertify someone who already had been proved to meet the blood quantum requirements. What apparently complicated the issue were those beneficiaries who were thought to be certified years ago but never actually went through a formal process, according to the recording.

The incompatible position Kau­hane took is "still an issue for me, but it’s not the same thing if you’re in a different position and you’re not acting as a deputy director," Louie said.

He made clear that he was not there to question Kau­hane.

McCoy, in her statement, said it was legal and appropriate for the attorney general to speak with or question individuals who may be involved with matters under administrative investigation by his office.

As the meeting became more heated, Coppa repeated an earlier statement that Kau­hane and Masa­ga­tani could not work together, and the governor had asked him to resolve the situation. In offering the homeless job, Coppa said he was trying to help a friend while filling a need in that program.

"I say, hey, $85,000 a year is not a bad deal. Let’s see if we can make that happen, and we’ll spin it up to be very good," Coppa said on the recording. "It’ll be a damn good thing, and the governor can announce it."

Kauhane said the situation started to deteriorate shortly after Masa­ga­tani took office in May. The newly named director told Kau­hane that her beneficiary file at DHHL was missing, and Kau­hane eventually learned from other employees that the AG’s office was investigating matters within her division, she said.

When Abercrombie informed Kau­hane that he would appoint Masa­ga­tani, he asked Kau­hane to stay as deputy, and she agreed, according to Kau­hane.