Posted on 12/27/2009 12:52:31 PM PST by Libloather
Easley Scandal Budget Woes Top N.C. Story List
BY SCOTT MOONEYHAM: CAPITOL PRESS ASSOCIATION
Updated: December 26, 2009 at 15:54 pm
Two governors -- one leaving office, the other beginning -- probably couldn't imagine the troubles that they would see as 2009 began.
**SNIP**
Plenty of Scandal
Helping that cause may be a year filled with political scandal.
Mike Easley left office already having squandered the political capital built as an outsider and anti-politician. The image began crumbling when his wife, Mary, landed a $170,000 job at N.C. State University. By spring, published reports about Mike Easley flying around on private jets for free and free cars provided to his wife and son further tarnished his image.
Not long after, federal prosecutors began calling Easley colleagues and state officials before a grand jury. The scandal turned into a nightmare for N.C. State, as allegations of influence-peddling surrounding Mary Easley's job led to the resignation of Chancellor James Oblinger, Provost Larry Neilsen and Board of Trustees chair McQueen Campbell.
Questions continued to arise about the Easleys' purchase of a waterfront lot in Carteret County from developer/political donors Randy and Gary Allen. Campbell had also been involved in the deal. All three men had been appointed to important state boards by Easley.
As the federal investigation continued, the State Board of Elections called on Easley, Campbell and state Democratic Party officials to answer questions surrounding the former governor's campaign finances.
Campbell accused Easley of using campaign money to repair a home. Easley responded, "It never, ever happened." The board ordered Easley's campaign to pay $100,000 and referred the matter to a state prosecutor to consider possible criminal charges.
Testimony during the hearing about large political contributions from donors who sought state environmental permits seemed to spark the interest of federal prosecutors. More than a half-dozen state environmental regulators were called before the federal grand jury as it focused on the connections. One prominent Easley aide, lawyer Ruffin Poole, refused to testify before the state board, citing his rights against self-incrimination.
Ruffin Poole, one of former Gov. Mike Easley's lawyers has plead the Fifth Amendment before the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Back in October, Poole got out of testifying about Easley in front of the Board of Elections without disclosing why he didn't have to testify, based on a ruling by a Wake County Superior Court judge.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals, however, took a different view of the case, and when Poole appeared before the Board of Elections this week he was told he had to testify or give some reason for not testifying. It was only after he was threatened with jail for contempt that Poole's attorney said his client would plead the Fifth Amendment, which is protection against self-incrimination.
Chairman of the Board of Elections Larry Leake, who pressed the issue, allowed Poole to plead the fifth and said that in accordance with the Constitution the board was not going to assume anything bad about Poole because he refused to testify.
However, you can't plead the fifth if you didn't do anything wrong. The Fifth Amendment says that individuals do not have to testify against themselves. If he didn't do anything wrong he wouldn't be eligible to plead the fifth, that is just common sense. The innocent don't need the Fifth Amendment, but the guilty do.
They aren't after him anyway. They are after Easley.
Easley is a crook, and this is a case where his crooked lawyer is doing everything in his power to protect Easley. The US Attorney's Office needs to complete its investigation unhampered by political considerations, and then Easley deserves a fair trial in front of a jury of his peers like any other crook.
Perhaps the Republicans need to point out more often that Easley's second in command is now the governor.
After this case hit the newspapers, Gov. Beverly Perdue paid for some free airplane flights she had taken during her campaign. But of course in Easley's case it wasn't just the flights. With Easley there is already a lot of evidence of quid pro quo. In other words, Easley did pay for the flights but he paid by appointing people to powerful boards and commissions and who knows what else. He didn't pay them in cash, he paid them with favors he could grant to them as governor.
Until he resigned on Dec. 8, Poole was on the board of the Golden LEAF Foundation, which has over $500 million to give away. The Golden LEAF Foundation gives away money from the state's share of the settlement with tobacco companies to organizations all across North Carolina. Being on that board gives someone access to half a billion dollars that can be given to any friend, relation or political ally smart enough to file the papers to form a 501(c)3, as well as to local governments that play ball or to economic development agencies to help out friends It's hard to see how the board could not be caught up in all of this.
The appointments to the Golden LEAF Foundation board are made by the governor, the speaker of the state House and the president pro tem of the state Senate. The former speaker of the house, Jim Black, is in prison. If there is any justice left in this state Easley will be serving time also, which leaves only President Pro Tem of the state Senate Marc Basnight. The three of them ran the state.
It doesn't seem likely that Black would bribe an elected state representative by handing him a bag of cash in the men's room of a breakfast restaurant, or that Easley would fly all over the state on private planes for free, and fly all over the state on personal business on state planes for free, and have friends set him up with fraudulent real estate transactions while Basnight, who worked with those two, is clean as a whistle.
If nothing else Basnight must have known what they were doing and should have let the people of North Carolina know, but it is far more likely that Basnight was involved in some nefarious activities of his own.
Some investigator needs to look at every grant awarded by the Golden LEAF Foundation while Easley's appointees were on the board. Having a slush fund of half a billion dollars that can be handed out to political allies is a lot of temptation.
http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-i-2009-12-24-202851.112113_Under_the_Hammer.html
Actually, the entire state government of NC is a cesspool and has been for a while.
From an inside source:
Easley is toast and WILL be joining Jim Black in Federal prison.
Strong possibility that Edwards may go down as well.
NC without Helms is not worth visiting. Sorry, Grandfather Mountain.
Oh, dear God, may that be true! And may Purdue follow him soon!
ping for after din din
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