A state House and Senate committee investigating mismanagement at the state Bureau of Conveyances will have to decide whether to keep its lead investigator after questions were raised about his impartiality.

Hilton Lui, a private investigator, was hired by the committee after he had done investigatory work on the bureau for the state Ethics Commission.

But Dan Mollway, the commission's executive director, said in a letter to the committee on Thursday that Lui was so biased he considered his work on the bureau unreliable and untrustworthy.

Mollway said he received complaints Lui had lobbied a state senator to oppose Peter Young's confirmation as director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which oversees the bureau, and cheered in the Senate gallery when it appeared Young would not be confirmed.

Lui had been subpoenaed by the Senate during Young's confirmation hearings and testified in closed session about his work with the Ethics Commission.

"It became abundantly clear to me that Mr. Lui's investigation of the Bureau of Conveyances was biased, tainted and untrustworthy because of his personal views in the matter, which created a conflict of interest, in terms of his being a professional investigator," Mollway wrote in his letter.

Mollway said he could not comply with a committee subpoena requesting the commission's work because of his conclusions about Lui.

Lui is out of state and could not be reached for comment.

State Sen. Jill Tokuda, D-24th (Kailua, Kane'ohe), the co-chair of the committee, said the committee would wait to hear Lui's account before making any decision.

"Our whole goal is to ensure the integrity of the committee," Tokuda said. "But these statements are very concerning."

State Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Kane'ohe Bay), who serves on the committee, said she will ask that Lui be removed when the committee meets next Thursday.

Thielen said some Republicans believe the committee was created in part to justify the Senate's rejection of Young. Mismanagement at the bureau, which processes land and title documents, was cited by some senators as a reason Young should not be confirmed to another four-year term.

"Lui has behaved in a very partisan and biased way, so how can he conduct an impartial hearing?" Thielen asked. "We don't want it to be a second hatchet job on Peter Young."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.