Television ads tell viewers the candidate for Honolulu Mayor cannot be trusted. Cayetano claims these ads, flyers, and push polls are part of a highly coordinated and well-funded plan to attack him with lies, including the claim he accepted illegal campaign contributions.
"Been frustrated, I feel humiliated.There are times I feel very, very bad for my family," Cayetano said.
On Monday morning, the former Governor filed a libel lawsuit against 18 defendants and counting. So far, defendants include the Hawaii Carpenters Union, PRP and a local public relations firm. Cayetano’s attorneys believe the ads are paid for by funds from general contractors, and part of the lawsuit is to find out which ones they are, and to add them as defendants. The lawsuit alleges the defendants knew the statements in ads were false.
"When you keep lying and lying every day, every week, every month that they’ve done to Ben, when you don’t answer, people start to believe it’s true," said Michael Green, Cayetano’s attorney.
The pro-rail group PRP has spent more than a million dollars on these ads, which started airing before the primary election. Cayetano’s attorneys say this lawsuit, filed two weeks before the general election, is about principle, and not to win a political race.
"If you sue after the election and you’ve won, everyone’s going to say, well, you’re just piling on. If you sue after the election and you lost, everyone’s going to say you’re a sore loser," said Jim Bickerton, Cayetano’s attorney
The lawsuit is seeking damages that would be decided by the jury. Attorneys say it could take at least a year for this lawsuit to go to trial.
The defendants did not have a comment. We also checked with Cayetano’s opponent in the mayoral race, Kirk Caldwell. He declined to comment as well.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
