Tag: North Carolina Republican Party

The Story: The Democratic Party's candidate for a seat in the US Senate from North Carolina, Cal Cunningham, did unexpectedly well in campaign fund raising...

Raleigh, N.C. — Federal investigators from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced indictments this past week that outlined allegations of fraud and bribery against the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, a wealthy Durham businessman and two of his associates, one of them a chairman of the Chatham County Republican Party. While that investigation continues, so does a separate probe underway by investigators in the Eastern District of North Carolina into election improprieties in the 9th Congressional District. Five people have been indicted in that investigation, and more indictments are expected. That case involves election fraud, and one of the people indicted was running an absentee-ballot operation for Republican candidate Mark Harris. In the new case, Durham businessman Greg Lindberg is accused of trying to bribe Republican Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey to gain favorable treatment for one of his hundreds of insurance companies. Causey, however, had reported the overtures to the FBI and, according to the indictment, began assisting the FBI in its investigation. In the last three years, Lindberg has become the largest single political donor in North Carolina. Most of his contributions have gone to Republicans, but he also supported Causey's predecessor, Democrat Wayne Goodwin, who is now chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. In a Sunday Special edition of TheWrap@NCCapitol, WRAL's Laura Leslie, Travis Fain and Cullen Browder take an in-depth look at the latest scandal to rock North Carolina politics.

By A federal grand jury has indicted North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes and a major GOP campaign donor on conspiracy and bribery charges for their attempts to influence N.C. Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey. That was in 2017, according to the indictment. In August 2017, the indictment says Hayes texted Causey and suggested “I think u should consider a face to face (with Lindberg).” In November 2017, Gray told Causey that Lindberg had contributed $500,000 to the NC GOP and earmarked $110,000 for Causey’s campaign, according to the indictment. Lindberg and Gray suggested that Causey hire Palermo to replace or supervise the senior deputy commissioner, the indictment says In a March 5 meeting in Statesville, Causey confirmed his ability to hire Palermo. During that meeting, Lindberg told Causey that he’d support him with up to $2 million in campaign contributions, according to the indictment. Palermo then quoted “Public Official A,” saying that Causey “needs to man-up and do what he agreed to.” The indictment says the public official then contacted Causey and said Lindberg, Gray and Palermo “seemed anxious to find out” if Causey had made staffing changes. The indictment says FBI agents interviewed Hayes in August 2018 and specifically asked whether Hayes was aware of “expectations” Lindberg might have had for a $500,000 donation he made to the party. “Thanks to the voluntary reporting of the North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance, we have uncovered an alleged scheme to violate our federal public corruption laws,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray said in a news release Tuesday. We will work with our law enforcement partners to investigate allegations of public corruption, safeguard the integrity of the democratic process, and prosecute those who compromise it.” Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski referred to the group’s alleged actions as “a brazen bribery scheme in which Greg Lindberg and his coconspirators allegedly offered hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in exchange for official action that would benefit Lindberg’s business interests.” Lindberg donations Lindberg was the biggest political donor in North Carolina over the last few years, the News & Observer has previously reported. Bob Hall, the former head of government watchdog group Democracy NC, told the News & Observer he has identified roughly $5.5 million in political contributions from Lindberg to North Carolina politicians, political parties and Super PACs since 2016, and another $500,000 from Lindberg’s businesses and employees.

They're all accused of trying to bribe state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who got in touch with federal investigators and recorded conversations quoted in the indictment. Lindberg has given more than $5 million to North Carolina political campaigns over the last few years, including more than $1.49 million to the state Republican Party. The state party turned around and gave $250,000 of that to Causey's campaign, and the indictment alleges this was an attempt to get around state political giving rules, which allow unlimited donations to parties but cap individual campaign donations at $5,400. The day after Causey agreed to switch out regulators at the department as Lindberg had requested, Hayes emailed the state party's treasurer requesting an initial wire transfer to Causey's campaign, the indictment states. The indictment also references an unidentified "Public Official A" that Gray and Lindberg discussed via text message and who called Causey to "explain that Lindberg was doing good things for North Carolina business" two days after Lindberg made a $150,000 contribution on Feb. 5, 2018, to a committee supporting the official. Dan Forest's largest donor, having given more than $2 million to political committees supporting him. Before the meeting, Gray allegedly told Causey that he and Lindberg would enter through a different door "so that nobody would see them together." Gray allegedly told Causey that, if the deputy commissioner causing Lindberg problems wasn't fired, he should "set it so that ... she doesn't breathe a word outside that office, or send a slip of paper outside that office, that is not reviewed first by John (Palermo)," the indictment states. The DOJ's Public Integrity Section and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the case. "The party has been cooperating with the investigation for several months, including staff members providing statements and responding to various document requests," Howard said in the statement.

It could be worse, Alabama. We could be North Carolina. No, we could be this North Carolina. “Contrast (ethical North Carolina Republicans) with the paid political mercenaries working in Bladen and Robeson counties. The Board of Elections should start the election over.” To recap, that’s a collection of current opinions from, in order, Andrew Reynolds, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina; Robin Hayes, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party and a former member of Congress; Charles P. Pierce, a veteran columnist at Esquire; and the editorial board of The Charlotte Observer. That’s why longtime watchers of Tar Heel politics are pointing their fingers directly at Southern Republicans who are devoted to “the principle of clinging to power.” I don’t blame them, but let’s be fair. North Carolina doesn’t own the patent on political corruption and electoral mayhem. At Illinois State University, the Institute for Corruption Studies says this: “It is all bad news for such states as Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York” because they rank so highly in most forms of corruption. And that doesn’t include the stench of the 2011-12 corruption trials of legislators accused of shenanigans with a gambling bill in the Alabama Legislature. For Alabama, that’s the lesson trickling down from the Carolina mountains.