RALEIGH, N.C. – An environmental regulator in North Carolina state government has traveled to the federal courthouse where prosecutors are seeking information about former Gov. Mike Easley.

Assistant Secretary for Environment Robin Smith left the Raleigh courthouse Thursday morning but declined to say whether she had testified before a grand jury.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Smith and five other current or retired agency employees received subpoenas directing them to appear this week.

The subpoenas also sought documents related to coastal developments by a pair of brothers with ties to Easley and if payoffs were made to state regulators. The agency isn’t aware of wrongdoing by the department.

Easley’s former campaign manager testified Wednesday before the grand jury.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – A political operative who guided former Gov. Mike Easley’s two campaigns for North Carolina’s top office testified before a federal grand jury that’s hearing more about the Democratic governor.

Jay Reiff arrived with attorney Michael Weisel shortly before 9 a.m. and left before noon. Weisel says his client answered all the questions from the jury fully and completely. He would not go into detail on what questions Reiff was asked.

The State Board of Elections tried to subpoena Reiff for an investigative hearing last month, but Chairman Larry Leake said the state’s subpoena couldn’t compel him to testify because he was working outside of North Carolina at the time.

Weisel says his client had several interviews with board staff and has made himself available to be called as a witness.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The prosecutor handling the campaign finance case of former North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley says he wants to decide by February whether to seek criminal charges against the two-term Democrat.

Rowan County District Attorney Bill Kenerly told The Associated Press on Thursday he understands Easley and the public want resolution in the matter as soon as possible.

The State Board of Elections has asked a local district attorney to examine whether Easley or others committed crimes stemming from some incorrect campaign finance reports.

The first prosecutor given the case asked to be removed because he and Easley are longtime friends.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The State Board of Elections wants campaign finance reform following the $100,000 penalty it handed the Mike Easley campaign committee for unreported flights.

Right now, the board can only penalize campaign committees for violations, not the candidate him or herself.

So in former Governor Mike Easley’s case, he is not personally responsible for the recent forefeiture and fine against his campaign committee.

The State Board of Elections unanimously approved an order asking the General Assembly to consider holding a candidate responsible for any penalties the candidate’s campaign committee can not cover.

Representative Deborah Ross, Vice Chair of the North Carolina House Election Law and Campaign Finance Committee, said “I can not imagine this would not be something that committee would look at closely.”

Fellow committee member Rep. Skip Stam (R – House Minority Leader) said he thinks changes in the law could happen during the short session.

“The candidate should be, if not aware of everything happening in the campaign, should be willing to take responsibility for everything that happens in the campaign,” said Stam.

To hear more from members of the Senate as well as Governor Bev Perdue, click on the video monitor above.

Watch Easley Hearings Live All Week

RALEIGH, N.C. – The State Board of Elections wants more testimony before deciding whether North Carolina laws were broken by what some are calling a special Democratic Party campaign account for former Gov. Mike Easley.

More witnesses were to be called Tuesday as part of the board’s public hearing investigating Easley’s campaign committee and the state Democratic Party.

Key Easley fundraisers testified Monday the Easley campaign told them to give to the party as a way to help Easley win election. Individuals are limited in giving $4,000 to candidates but can give unlimited amounts to the party. Board chairman Larry Leake told reporters he believes a “special account” at the party existed but doesn’t know if it was dedicated solely to Easley campaign activities – which would be unlawful.

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood thinks former first lady Mary Easley’s university salary was too high but that her staff may have set the bar too low for the value of Easley’s work.

Wood released an interim report Thursday that her department performed examining whether Easley should have received $170,000 a year from North Carolina State University.

Report investigators calculated late last year that Easley should have received a $79,000 salary, but N.C. State officials disagreed.

Wood told reporters the school made some good points and the report had too many holes in it. She decided to put the final report on hold earlier this year, in part because federal prosecutors were now investigating activities surrounding Mary Easley and former Gov. Mike Easley.

The state Highway Patrol has appointed an independent panel of attorneys to investigate why the agency has missing travel records from 2005.

Reuben Young, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, said Wednesday that he and Gov. Beverly Perdue “are determined to do everything in our power to find the answers regarding the 2005 records.”

The records are missing from 2005. Easley is under federal investigation for his air travels while in office. The State Highway Patrol received subpoenas earlier this summer for documents relating to the former governor’s travel on private planes. The Highway Patrol later confirmed documents from 2005 are missing.

Perdue said it’s “unacceptable” that the records have not been recovered. An internal inquiry, followed by an internal affairs investigation, had determined that Capt. Alan Melvin had not intended to remove or destroy the records.

Melvin was head of former Gov. Mike Easley’s security detail. Federal authorities investigating Easley subpoenaed Melvin to testify before a grand jury in May.

The three attorneys:

· Willis Whichard, former NC Supreme Court justice and former law school dean at Campbell University

· Robert Morgan, former SBI Director, former NC Attorney General, and former US Senator

· Ralph Walker, former superior and court of appeals judge and former director of the Administrative Office of the Courts

The outcome of the outside investigation will be made public upon its completion.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – A North Carolina judge is due to rule on whether to continue a lawsuit protesting former Gov. Mike Easley’s policy of destroying e-mail correspondence.

A Wake County judge will hear arguments Monday on whether to dismiss the lawsuit.

Gov. Beverly Perdue ordered last month that most e-mails sent or received by executive-branch employees should be preserved to comply with public records laws. Easley issued a similar order on his final day in office in January.

Media organizations including The Associated Press accused Easley and his administration of violating the state’s public records law for deleting e-mail messages. The lawsuit came after a former administration spokeswoman described a policy of deleting e-mails sent to and from the governor’s office.

Winston-Salem Journal Editorial

The State Board of Elections should heed a public watchdog group’s call and conduct open hearings on the campaign activities of former Gov. Mike Easley. The public deserves to know whether Easley’s victories were fair and square.

Democracy North Carolina, which has a record of uncovering questionable financial practices by state politicians, says it has found two disturbing trends in Easley’s campaign reports. One involves expenses and the other the possible use of the Democratic Party as an illegal conduit for third-party contributors. On
Thursday, the party forfeited $24,000 in donations related to this kind of activity, providing the money to the state board.

The U.S. attorney in Raleigh is investigating Easley on a variety of matters, and the board of elections has been looking into his campaign finances – all behind closed doors. The state’s newspapers have detailed questionable activity by the former governor and his wife, Mary, but so far no official public hearings have been held. Whether anything that he or his wife did was illegal is still just a matter of speculation.

In the case of possible criminal charges, the U.S. attorney’s secrecy is understandable. Determining if there is enough evidence to warrant a prosecution takes a lot of time.
But the elections board is a different matter.

The elections board does not decide on matters of criminal behavior. A public hearing would bring to light whether the Easley campaign violated state civil law with regard to its campaign fundraising and spending. If the board were to find evidence of criminal activity, it would pass that to the Wake County district attorney for possible action.

North Carolina voters elected Easley four times, to two terms as attorney general and two as governor. They deserve a full public airing of any reasonable allegations of which the elections board may be aware. They should have the evidence laid out in the open so they can get a better view of how Easley operated and whether any changes in state law are needed to assure fair and honest campaigns.

For his part, Easley isn’t talking. But a spokesman for the former governor says the hearings are not necessary because the allegations are based on flawed reporting by newspapers.

The spokesman’s response is incorrect; Democracy North Carolina is not a newspaper and it has raised issues that it says have not been reported in the press. Furthermore, we wonder why the former governor, if the charges are baseless, would pass up the opportunity to demonstrate that in public. If Easley’s reputation can use anything at this time it would be a victory in front of a panel like the elections board.
The people of North Carolina deserve to see the evidence.