Free Republic

The State Board of Elections has opened an investigation of Gov. Bev Perdue's campaign finances in response to complaints from the N.C. Republican Party. Last year, party Chairman Tom Fetzer filed complaints over undisclosed campaign flights. Perdue's campaign has since disclosed 31 flights and said the omissions were mistakes. Fetzer received a letter today from Kim Strach, a deputy director at the elections board who is responsible for investigations. In her letter, which Fetzer released to the news media Wednesday, Strach wrote that the board is investigating Perdue. "We have initiated an investigation into the allegations contained in your complaints...

A federal grand jury today charged Ruffin Poole, counsel and close aide to former Gov. Mike Easley, with 51 counts of corruption. The 64-page indictment alleges that Poole, 37, of Raleigh, taking action in exchange for illegal inducements. It is the first indictment issued in a lengthy federal probe surrounding Easley, who was governor from 2001 until last January.

RALEIGH -- After having spent much of his life as the hunter, former Gov. Mike Easley is the prey. Easley rose in politics as corruption-busting district attorney and a consumer-oriented attorney general, then as an outsider governor who didn't like good ol' boy politics. That image is a distant memory. On Monday, Easley's reputation suffered deep damage as the State Board of Elections opened several days of hearings into allegations of election-law violations that occurred during his eight years as governor. Gone were the stories of Easley as the young drug-busting prosecutor who kept a shotgun next to his bed...

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...

Hearing on Easley and Democratic Party under way Raleigh | A hearing to investigate the campaign of former Gov. Mike Easley and the state Democratic Party is under way. The State Board of Elections immediately went into closed session Monday to discuss how it will investigate whether Easley’s campaign committee or the state Democratic Party broke campaign finance laws.

Raleigh, N.C. — A data-recovery firm cannot retrieve some messages from the personal e-mail account of former North Carolina State University Chancellor James Oblinger, a university lawyer told federal investigators Friday. Meanwhile, a federal grand jury investigating the dealings former Gov. Mike Easley had with friends and contributors while in office now wants to look at communications between the state Division of Motor Vehicles and several Easley aides and supporters. N.C. State turned over four more batches of documents Friday to the grand jury, which in May subpoenaed all university records regarding N.C. State's hiring and promotion of Easley's wife,...

John Edwards admits federal investigators are asking him questions. Federal subpoenas were issued Friday related to Mike Easley. As the separate federal probes into a former senator and the former governor are emerging, Democrats are taking steps to replace the Republican prosecutor who is spearheading the inquiries about the highest-profile North Carolina Democrats of the past decade. All the nearly 100 top federal prosecutors across the country serve at the will of the president. Any replacement for U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding, a Bush appointee who has kept a priority on public corruption cases from Raleigh to the coast, will...

The chancellor and provost at N.C. State have been ordered to appear before a federal grand jury meeting in Raleigh this week, according to federal records released Tuesday afternoon. Chancellor James Oblinger and Provost Larry Nielsen were asked to bring documents related to the hiring, promotion and salary of former first lady Mary Easley. The subpoenas follow reports in The News & Observer about the circumstances surrounding Easley's hiring at N.C. State in 2005 and the expansion of her duties last year, which raised her pay to $170,000. Mary Easley has come under pressure to resign her position from Oblinger...

Grass Roots North Carolina, P.O. Box 10684, Raleigh, NC  27605919-664-8565, www.grnc.org, GRNC Alert Hotline: (919) 562-4137   GRNC Alert 08-29-05: EASLEY & BLACK BYPASS LEGISLATURE  & GUT HB 1311  [Analysis]  HB 1311, GRNC’s bill enabling domestic violence victims to protect themselves with concealed handgun permits earlier passed the NC General Assembly.  Due to the maneuvering of the NC Sheriff's Association, it had already been stripped down to simply require notification to a victim of her right to obtain a Concealed Carry Permit and the procedures necessary upon the issuance of a protective order.   As it now sits on the...

National Democrats are beginning to look to statehouses to see what, if anything, they can do to break the Republican hold on southern states. Gov. Mike Easley has been the subject of two recent articles in The New York Times and Congressional Quarterly, a publication that monitors government and politics. And the Governor of Virginia, Mark Warner, has already established a federal political-action committee, which outsiders speculate is his first step toward a White House run in 2008. Easley won re-election last year despite the fact that President Bush carried North Carolina by 13 points. Warner, whose term will expire...

Hundreds of NC FreedomWorks Members Rally in Raleigh Activists fight tobacco tax increase, demand smaller government Contact: Allen Page Phone: (336) 213-1167 Email: apage@freedomworks.org Raleigh, North Carolina - Today, Governor Mike Easley and many North Carolina legislators got a lot more than they bargained for when they proposed a massive tax increase on smokers. That’s because over 400 FreedomWorks activists traveled from all across the North Carolina to the state Capitol to tell their representatives and senators: “We Want Less”. During the 6th annual ‘FreedomWorks CSE Day at the Capitol’, activists focused on the campaign against the 900 percent increase...

Republican challenger Patrick Ballantine has pulled out of his only scheduled debate with Gov. Mike Easley, citing Easley's unwillingness to commit to any other forums. (snip) The N.C. Association of Broadcasters tried to work out a statewide debate but pulled its offer to organize a forum this week. "The governor kept giving us obstacles as to why he did not wish to accept our proposal for a debate," said Clay Milstead, who chairs the broadcast group's debate committee and works for WCTI-TV in New Bern. (snip) "We told them we didn't have to do it that way, that we were...

Legislation done in haste often comes with regrets. And lawmakers and political activists could soon be offering regrets about a bill that puts new limits on "electioneering communications" that passed the General Assembly in the waning hours of the 2004 short session. The bill, which has already been signed into law by Gov. Mike Easley, restricts corporate donations to special political groups. According to an Associated Press report, it bars the use of corporate and union donations to these groups for any radio or TV ads that clearly mention a statewide or legislative candidate 30 days before a primary election...

A state Board of Transportation member has resigned after e-mailing local leaders to ask for contributions to Gov. Mike Easley's 2004 campaign for re-election in exchange for helping to secure road projects for Iredell County. According to Richard Vinroot and the North Carolina Republican Party, Frank Johnson of Statesville said in the e-mail he set a goal of raising $50,000 to take to Raleigh. "You probably know that Mike Easley appointed me to this position and like a lot of politicians he is asking what I have done for him 'lately,'" Johnson allegedly wrote. Johnson then added, "We need a...

Republican Bill Cobey plans to give his good friend, retired U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a starring role in his campaign for governor. Cobey, who has already received Helms' endorsement, on Thursday unveiled a television ad featuring the 5-term senator and conservative icon. The humorous ad features Helms praising a self-effacing Cobey. At a news conference, Cobey said Helms' backing means more than most endorsements, which typically carry little weight with voters. "Sen. Helms is the exception to the rule. He is a man people trust," the former congressman and state Republican Party chairman said. Cobey enters the race for the...

Republican candidates for governor on Friday pummeled Gov. Mike Easley's record of raising taxes, expanding government and, in their view, doing too little to prevent thousands of jobs from disappearing during his three years in office. In a joint appearance to air tonight on the WRAL-TV/News & Observer program "Headline Saturday," the six major GOP candidates also offered some solutions of their own: * Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, who lost to Easley in 2000, said he wants to lower the corporate income tax rate from 6.9 percent to 5 percent, eliminate taxes on manufacturers and force state agencies to...

Dear Supporters: My gubernatorial campaign to bring better government to North Carolina is growing each week in support. It is clear that the public approves of our message. We need your ongoing help. If you want to see more done to keep and create jobs, to improve education and roads, and to reduce illegal immigration in North Carolina, then please consider attending or supporting our 'Fish and Fundraiser' event in Stanly County on Thursday Nov. 13, from 6 pm to 8 pm. The address is provided if you would like to pull up a www.MapQuest.com map. Efird's Rocky River Springs...

Senator Fern Shubert’s campaign for Governor takes aim at Easley’s encouragement of illegal immigration. Contact: 1-877-GOV-FERN (468-3376) www.ForFern.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2003 Senator Fern Shubert has added a stance against Easley’s encouragement of illegal immigration as one of her top campaign issues in the race to become the next Governor of North Carolina. Shubert says Governor Easley’s encouragement of illegal immigration threatens national security and North Carolina’s future. “Why does he want to help people break the law?” Shubert asks. “What we have here is a recipe for disaster!” Senator Shubert said. “The Democrats are raising taxes to...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.At his Aug. 4 appearance in Kannapolis, Gov. Mike Easley showed up 20 minutes late, then talked for 30 minutes about how devoted he was to helping the newly unemployed Pillowtex workers. He praised two Charlotte A-list executives, Mac Everett of Wachovia Corp. and Jim Hance of Bank of America Corp., for trying, unsuccessfully, to find a buyer for Pillowtex while protecting their banks' interests. Then Easley dashed off without taking a question from workers or journalists. Left in his wake were 6,500 former Pillowtex employees suddenly surrounded by glad-handing pols who,...

<p>North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley brushed a NASCAR race car against a track wall while driving about 165 mph Friday but said he was not hurt, only "a little embarrassed."</p> <p>Easley was driving one of Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 car at Lowe's Motor Speedway to practice for pace laps in next week's Winston race when the car hit the so-called soft inside retaining wall at Turn 2.</p>