Ethics Commission publishes Souki’s apology

Former House Speaker Joe Souki has paid a fine and submitted a letter apologizing for his behavior after several women including former state Director of Human Services Rachael Wong accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct.

As a condition of his settlement with the Hawaii State Ethics Commission, Souki, 86, also resigned from his Maui House seat effective Friday, and paid a $5,000 fine. He had been a member of the Legislature since 1982, and served as speaker of the House twice during his long career as a lawmaker.

In his letter to House Speaker Scott Saiki, Souki said that “In response to the allegations of sexual harassment brought by more than one woman, I apologize — to those women, to my constituents, and to the people of Hawaii — for my inappropriate and unacceptable behavior.”

That letter, which the commission posted on its website Wednesday, is in sharp contrast to Souki’s comments at a news conference last month when he told reporters he resigned to avoid a “media circus,” and said he has no memory of ever acting inappropriately with any woman at any time.

In a prepared statement read aloud to reporters by lawyer Michael Green, Souki said at the time he is “greatly saddened that something I did was misunderstood and believed to be inappropriate conduct.” Green said the incidents that triggered the complaints occurred between three and eight years ago.

Souki, (D, Waihee-Waiehu-Wailuku), was first publicly accused of inappropriate conduct by Wong, who filed allegations against him with the ethics commission last fall. After the Star-Advertiser reported on that complaint, other women came forward with similar allegations against Souki, Wong has said.

According to a settlement made public by the ethics commission, Souki admitted that while serving as speaker of the House he “touched and kissed more than one woman in ways that were inappropriate and unwelcome” during meetings in his office.

“He admits that this physical contact exceeded the boundaries of the customary ‘aloha kiss,’ ” according to the Resolution of Investigation document released by the ethics commission. “Souki further admits that he made sexual comments, including comments on the physical appearance of more than one woman, that were inappropriate and unwanted.”

Souki’s resignation created a vacancy in the House that Gov. David Ige must fill within 60 days. The process set out in state law requires that Democratic Party officials on Maui submit three names to Ige, who will pick one to serve out the balance of Souki’s term.