Posted on 10/28/2009 9:28:55 PM PDT by MitchellC
RALEIGH Internal documents from former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign committee suggest a concerted effort to run donations illegally through the N.C. Democratic Party to circumvent contribution limits.
The evidence, released Tuesday by the State Board of Elections, included internal campaign memos that outlined ways to extract more money from donors than they could get with straightforward contributions to Easley's two campaigns for governor.
The board's questions about the memos were greeted with denials and fuzzy memories from two Easley campaign officials and a top donor. And attorneys for the state Democratic Party contended that Easley's campaign gave to the party far more than it got.
(Excerpt) Read more at charlotteobserver.com ...
Exceeding the campaign contribution limit laws is a misdemeanor, while filing false campaign reports is a felony, board chairman Larry Leake said. The state has limited individual campaign contributions to $4,000 per election cycle, and prevented businesses from giving in order to limit the influence of well-heeled interests in elections. If the board believes a crime has been committed it will send evidence to prosecutors.
On Monday, two donors to the Easley campaign testified that campaign aides told them to donate to the Democratic Party, and that their contributions would be forwarded to the Easley campaign. One of the fundraisers, Wilmington developer Lanny Wilson, also testified that Allen gave the party $50,000 in 2003, probably with the idea that it would eventually return to the Easley campaign.
Internal campaign documents the board introduced Tuesday bolstered those assertions. Two memos written by Easley campaign manager Jay Reiff in May 2000 urged the campaign to take advantage of a "loophole" in state law that allows unlimited non-cash contributions by the party to candidates.
"I propose we initiate a large donor program through the [state party] immediately," Reiff wrote. "We will be competing directly with the House and Senate committees over big donors, so it's critical we place someone within the [party] to get their hands on the money first. We can pay for all our expenses this way, including, research, polling, focus groups, phones, direct mail, salaries production costs, etc."
Campaign manager won't testify
Reiff has been subpoenaed to appear at the board's inquiry, but will not. Leake said Reiff is in Virginia, beyond the state's reach, and cannot be compelled to testify.
Another Easley memo from the 2004 campaign, written by Hayden and labeled "Finance Plan," discusses running contributions through the party or political advocacy groups. "This gives us the ability to raise money from entities thought prohibited such as corporations and sets new limits to how much we can receive," said the plan, which appeared to be intended for Easley to read.
Hayden suggested in the plan that "controversial individuals who we would not wish to show on our report can be run through" the Democratic Governors Association.
Repeated questions to Hayden and Horne brought no confirmation. They said they had limited discussions with Easley about fundraising. Hayden said he could not confirm that he wrote the finance plan, though he said it looked like something he might draft. [...]
FYI ping
I don’t know if you covered the news and observer articles from yesterday - but one noted that Wilson’s $10,000 check was made out to “NC Democratic Party — Special Acct.” and Garrett’s check had “Mike Easley Campaign” in the memo line. Hilarious. In fact Garrett’s entire testimony is a real knee slapper if you haven’t read it. I have been out all day today and have not been able to keep up with today’s entertainment.
Sorry if this is redundant.
Nah, he’s a Democrat.
It’s fine.
lol and it aint even front pager to the rest of the country
Oh what tangled webs we weave...
Time to snatch Reiff and drop him on the front porch.
That’s hilarious (although it won’t be if they get away with it). Aside from the article posted here, all I’ve been able to keep up with was some of Easley’s live testimony yesterday (on News 14) where he insisted that he was too busy shaking hands and kissing babies to know that any of this stuff was going on.
Is there a chance Easley will actually be punished?
Democrats basically have to commit crimes on a crowded street in broad daylight to be prosecuted in NC.
On the other hand, that the Charlotte Observer / Raleigh News & Observer (their political reporting is virtually one and the same at this point) aren’t parsing words, and are calling this activity illegal, this soon, surprises me. I expected them to write a series of articles debating whether or not any of this was actually illegal.
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