‘SURFER LEAVE’

No Conflict of Interest After Hawaii Congressman Kept Working for Airline, Ethics Says

But Rep. Kai Kahele’s social media use during his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign this year is still under scrutiny.

Rep. Kaialiʻi Kahele (D-HI) was on Monday cleared of concerns of a conflict of interest over his office’s relationship with Hawaiian Airlines, the company with which Kahele has remained employed as a pilot during his congressional tenure. The Office of Congressional Ethics, in its report on the matter, stated that its investigators did not find that Hawaiian Airlines or the pilots’ union had “exercised undue influence” on Kahele in any way that compromised his lawmaking duties. In particular, they highlighted that he was able to go on so-called “Surfer Leave” after being elected to Congress, a union-approved modified leave status that reduced him to a part-time employee with the airline. However, the report noted that there was “substantial reason to believe” Kahele may have violated ethics rules by using official resources on social media during an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign earlier this year, asking the House Ethics Committee to investigate further. Lawmakers are barred from using their congressional accounts to interact with campaign materials, which calls Kahele’s retweets of press releases, for example, into question. Kahele, who is departing the House in January, has denied any misconduct.

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AJ McDougallBreaking News Reporter

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