Attorney General Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde says she advised the Governor’s Executive Advisor on Finance Brett Butler to abort the investment of $10.1 million of ASG money until there was independent verification of the people behind the investment proposal and projects that they were previously involved with.
She testified before the Senate Government Operations Committee Monday that she did not review of approve a contract between ASG and McKinley Company for the investment.
The AG said she was first made aware of the investment around December 2025 when Butler emailed her a draft of an agreement concerning the investment. However this was around the holidays and she did not review the agreement until January after Butler followed up with her if she had a chance to review the contract.
She said at the outset some of the terms of the agreement were concerning…for example the promise of receiving $100 million within 90 days from a $10 million investment.
Also during a conference call with the individuals behind the investment proposal two gentlemen that were in the call did not show their faces.
One of the things that the AG asked for was contacts in countries where the promoters of the investment said they had done similar deals to the one proposed for American Samoa.
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The contract with Mckinley was signed around March 17 and the AG said she did not have the opportunity to review or sign the contract.
Committee Chairman Senator Togiola Tulafono said for agreements such as this, the Attorney General must conduct a review prior to signing. He asked the AG if this was her understanding and the AG replied in the affirmative.
Togiola referred to testimony by Butler that he did not discuss the final agreement with the AG but that the Governor had talked with the AG though he did not know the outcome of their discussions,
The AG testified that she did not have any discussion with the Governor concerning the agreement with McKinley. All discussions concerning this matter were through Butler. She did receive an email from the Governor on the evening of March 10 though she did not explain the contents of the email. And on March 11, she received an email from Butler that the transaction , that is the $10.1 million investment had been aborted.
Senator Togiola commented it was obvious that the transaction was not aborted as the committee has received proof that $10.1 million was remitted by ASG to McKinley via an escrow account. Asked if anyone had informed her of the transfer, the AG replied she only found out on August 10 when she was informed by the Acting Treasurer who came to her seeking advice concerning the transfer.
She said on August 11 she emailed both Butler and the Governor expressing her concerns about the remittance.
Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean asked the AG if she didn’t feel that the law had been violated in that government funds had been used without Fono approval.
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Insurance Commissioner Peter Fuimaono was also questioned at the same hearing concerning the insurance coverage for the $10.1 million investment. We’ll report on that part of the hearing in a separate story.
