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| Blog and Media Roundup - Wednesday, October 28, 2009; News Roundup | |
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| Topic Started: Oct 28 2009, 05:29 AM (341 Views) | |
| abb | Oct 28 2009, 05:29 AM Post #1 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Duke+officer+charged+in+rape%20&id=4169435-Duke+officer+charged+in+rape&instance=homesecondleft Duke officer charged in rape 10.27.09 - 11:44 pm By Neil Offen noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646 DURHAM — The Duke University Police Department has suspended, with pay, an officer charged in a “bondage rape” in Alabama where he allegedly gagged and handcuffed a woman in his car before violating her. And the sheriff in Dothan, Ala., where Webster Delenn Simmons, 37, was charged Monday with felony first-degree rape and felony first-degree sodomy, said he believes the crime may not be an isolated event. “I think there’s a real distinct possibility he’s done this before,” Sheriff Andy Hughes of Houston County said Tuesday. “We are alerting other law enforcement agencies nationwide to see if they have unsolved rapes like this. We would not be shocked at all if he had done this before.” John Dailey, the Duke police chief, said his department was in touch with Alabama officials and trying to gather more information about the case. Simmons has “clearly been suspended, and that is the standard procedure in something like this,” Dailey said. “Now we need to get more official information from the agency in Alabama and we will proceed from there once we get that information.” Simmons, who had served on the Duke police force for around a year, was arrested after the woman reported the assault Sunday. According to authorities, the victim and Simmons had been together at a local nightclub in the hours leading up to the assault. Hughes said the victim bought all her drinks at the nightclub except her last one, which the woman said Simmons purchased. “That’s why we think he drugged her,” the sheriff said. The sheriff said when the woman woke up early Saturday morning she was handcuffed with a ball gag in her mouth and was being sodomized. After obtaining a search warrant, detectives found inside Simmons’ vehicle two pairs of handcuffs, a ball gag, thick white rope, an electrical wire attached to a nail, a whip and a flog. “The items corroborated what the victim had told us,” Hughes said. The fact that the evidence was found in the car, Hughes said, led authorities to question whether similar crimes might have been committed elsewhere. “If we had found all this stuff in his home, that would have been one thing, and we would assume the sex had been consensual,” Hughes said. “But in a vehicle, that really concerns us, because that means he was traveling to do this.” Simmons, who lives in Rougemont, is being held at the Houston County Jail on $120,000 bond. He faces 20 years to life in prison for each felony charge. Officials believe he is originally from the Dothan area and was visiting family when he was arrested. Dailey said that Simmons’ shift was not scheduled to work over the weekend. According to his personnel file with the Duke department, Simmons previously had served 10 years as an officer with the Raleigh police. Hughes called the charges “very, very unusual.” “We have our share of forcible rapes, but this is the first one I can remember in over 20 years where there was definitely some bondage involved,” he said. “It’s deeply disturbing to have this kind of crime to start with, but it’s even more disturbing to think that this involves a law enforcement officer.” Dailey agreed, also calling it very disturbing that “a law enforcement officer could have committed this type of crime.” Simmons is scheduled to make his first court appearance today. |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 05:30 AM Post #2 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Easley+advisers+deny+fundraising+scheme%20&id=4169453-Easley+advisers+deny+fundraising+scheme&instance=homefirstleft Easley advisers deny fundraising scheme 10.27.09 - 11:45 pm By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH — Advisers who once helped former Gov. Mike Easley on fundraising told state election officials Tuesday there was no scheme to funnel money the campaign raised for the state Democratic Party back to Easley’s committee to avoid individual caps on giving. Onetime campaign treasurer Dave Horne and finance director Michael Hayden testified in the State Board of Elections probe into Easley’s campaign and the party, aiming the spotlight on campaign rules that allow state parties to give and receive big donations. State law allows a donor to give unlimited money to a party, but only as much as $4,000 to an individual candidate per election. The party can, in turn, parcel out money to candidates as it chooses. However, it would be illegal for the party to turn over a donation to a candidate solely because the donor specified which candidate should receive the money. Horne told the board he knew of no plan whereby donations by Easley supporters to the party would be funneled back to Easley’s 2000 or 2004 gubernatorial bids, even though the board presented internal Easley campaign documents suggesting that was considered. Some key fundraisers for Easley in Wilmington testified Monday that Easley campaign officials had told them to make donations to the party — apparently to a “special account” to cover Easley campaign expenses — after they had reached their $4,000 limit on giving to his election bid. Gary Allen, a Charlotte-area developer now living in Florida, testified Tuesday he couldn’t remember the details surrounding why he gave a $50,000 check to the state Democratic Party in advance of the 2004 election. Allen was a business associate of Easley fundraiser Lanny Wilson. “I got the impression that the Democratic Party would look out for its key Democrats and Easley would benefit from that in some way,” Allen said. Horne, who as treasurer filed campaign reports for Easley’s campaigns while attorney general and governor until 2006, said he wasn’t aware of a special party account dedicated to Easley but that Easley had agreed to raise money for the party that would be used to promote all Democratic candidates. Then-party executive director Scott Falmlen had the authority over the money received from people who were convinced to donate by Easley’s campaign, according to Horne. “Mr. Falmlen made very clear to me and other members of our campaign that money raised for the Democratic Party would be spent as the Democratic Party decided it should be spent,” Horne testified. “We knew that is the law.” Party attorney Jim Cooney presented documents showing any “special account” actually was money that Easley was asked to raise on behalf of the party’s “coordinated campaign” for get-out-the-vote efforts and other combined party activities. Critics of the unlimited party contributions call it a “loophole” used by donors and legislative leaders to get large donations — hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases — to targeted candidates. “It’s a loophole that should be closed,” Joe Sinsheimer, a Democratic political consultant, said during a break in the hearing. The five-member, quasi-judicial elections board could issue fines or reprimands, refer the case to a district attorney for criminal charges, or exonerate the party and The Mike Easley Committee. Easley was likely to be called to testify today, board Chairman Larry Leake said after Tuesday’s hearing adjourned. Hayden, who worked for Easley for the 2004 campaign, also said he didn’t recall writing a 2003 campaign strategy memo that advised the campaign could avoid giving limits by having donors give to other political organizations that support Easley. Hayden added: “I would never break the law intentionally.” |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 05:31 AM Post #3 |
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http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story_news_durham/push?article-Council-+mayoral+candidates+meet+at+NCCU%20&id=4165307-Council-+mayoral+candidates+meet+at+NCCU&instance=main_article Council, mayoral candidates meet at NCCU 10.27.09 - 09:45 pm By Ray Gronberg gronberg@heraldsun.com; 419-6648 DURHAM -- Challengers in the City Council race blasted Tuesday night the supervisory skills of their competition, singling out among other things the incumbents' handling of the Durham Police Department's overtime and moonlighting scandal. Ward 1 challenger Donald Hughes unleashed his attack at the very end of a forum at the N.C. Central University Law School, after nearly two hours had gone by without forum organizers or audience members raising a question about the Police Department's recent troubles. Hughes during his closing comments pulled out a copy of the June 2008 internal report on the department's moonlighting program city officials released late last week, and noted that its findings detailed numerous supervision and oversight failures. The report also said the moonlighting program was rife with favoritism. Hughes said Durham needs a City Council that will "take seriously" its role to keep an eye on the administration and set policy. Ward 3 challenger Allan Polak timed his attack differently, opening his comments at the forum by saying his efforts to research Ward 3 incumbent Mike Woodard and other council members had been hindered by "gaping holes" in their handling of official e-mail. Polak said he'd checked this month's city e-mail records for Woodard and found copies of 118 incoming messages, but no outgoing messages. He found the opposite problem with another council member's e-mail, lots of outgoing messages but none incoming. He claimed that it's possible council members are using private e-mail accounts for official business, contrary to IT industry best practices and city policy. He also said he's met with City Attorney Patrick Baker to discuss the situation. "In approximately two weeks' time I uncovered a problem in city government, made the public aware of it and worked to resolve it," Polak said, making it clear he thought officials have been slack in the enforcement of proper procedure. In her closing comments, Ward 1 incumbent Cora Cole-McFadden passed up a chance to respond to Hughes' comments, and stuck mainly to a recitation of the political groups that have endorsed her. Woodard, meanwhile, sparred with Polak early in the forum, promising to see to it that all his messages are released and adding that he's "confident something's overlooked" that city IT administrators will soon correct. The barbs on the supervision front were the major twists in a forum that otherwise played out according to recent form. Challengers and incumbents otherwise quarreled most on economic-development policy. Cole-McFadden, Woodard, Ward 2 incumbent Howard Clement and Mayor Bill Bell all defended the city's efforts on that front, arguing that it has expanded Durham's employment base and put money into neighborhood revitalization programs like the Eastway Village housing complex in North-East Central Durham. Mayoral challenger Steven Williams, however, said the city should focus more on making housing available to low-income families. And Ward 2 challenger Matt Drew argued that it should make low taxes a priority so "companies want to come here" instead of demanding incentives to open up shop. Tuesday's forum occurred a week before voters are scheduled to go to the polls to settle the four races. Early voting is already under way at the county Board of Elections office on West Corporation Street. As of the close of business Tuesday, 465 people had cast ballots. |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 05:35 AM Post #4 |
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http://gearino.com/index.php/2009/10/26/an-embarrassing-absence/ An embarrassing absence Last week’s issue of New York magazine had an interesting piece which charted the gestation of several big news stories from recent weeks. Among the stories tracked by the magazine was one which speculated whether John Edwards would acknowledge paternity of Rielle Hunter’s baby. The point of the article was to show how the information in big news stories comes from many disparate sources these days. As it did for each of the seven news articles it featured, the magazine started with a specific news report — in Edwards’ case, a Sept. 20 story about the baby-daddy drama on the front page of The New York Times —and then showed how various news organizations had contributed little pieces of the unfolding story over the past couple of years. The National Enquirer gets much credit for exposing Edwards, of course, but others reported key bits. WRAL-TV in Raleigh is mentioned three times, and the Charlotte Observer gets credit for two significant updates. The News & Observer, Edwards’ hometown paper, isn’t mentioned once. Of the two dozen times when the Edwards story was pushed further along by reporting, the magazine credits the N&O for none of them. This isn’t meant to be red meat for the Glenn Beck crowd. My gut tells me the explanation for the N&O’s invisibility on the Edwards story is rooted more in circumstance than conspiracy. It was a tabloid rumor at first, and the N&O was reluctant to dive into the muck for the story. But when Edwards’ affair couldn’t be kept out of respectable newspapers any longer, the N&O had neither the manpower nor financial resources to catch up to the story, much less get ahead of the national reporting pack. Still, it has to be humiliating for a proud paper to see the history of the Edwards saga set out in the pages of New York magazine — and not get so much as a faint mention for a story the N&O should have owned. |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 05:37 AM Post #5 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/article/local-pushes-stricter-indecent-exposure-laws Local pushes for stricter indecent exposure laws By Allison Schulhof October 28, 2009 Pull up your pants. That’s the message Durham resident Wayne Daye asked the Durham City Council to send to young people who wear saggy pants as a fashion statement. Daye spoke before the Council Oct. 8 to propose an ordinance, which would strengthen indecent exposure laws in Durham by prohibiting saggy pants that expose underwear. The council rejected the proposed ordinance on the grounds that it is unenforceable and impossible to uphold in court. “It’s not going to go anywhere,” said Council member Eugene Brown. “I can understand why some people are offended, but that will not stand up in court.” Daye, who said he is in his early 60s, explained that he decided to write a citizen proposal which would seek to ban low-riding pants after he grew tired of witnessing a “culture of indecency.” “It is offensive to a lot of people,” Daye said. “It creates a culture of disrespect and disregard. I think a person who really respects themselves is not going to walk around with their pants on the ground and their rear-end [showing] in public.” To prepare his citizen’s proposal, Daye said he talked to a random sampling of people in the Durham community. He collected more than 300 signatures for his petition. “Everybody I approached about this issue was for it,” Daye said. “Some people said, ‘Can I sign it twice?’” Daye correlated the low trouser trend with the hip-hop culture and youth delinquency. “This is connected to what we see going on with our youth across the county with cases of gang banging, disregard for politics and disrespect for social morals,” he said. “It is not just the idea of how they are wearing their clothes, but maybe this is a starting point. We can try and turn this [culture] around. We have to dig in somewhere.” Daye added that this ordinance could be a mechanism to address social deviance. Individuals who are issued citations for indecent exposure could be eligible for community mentoring programs, he said. Opponents of the ordinance said it is not within the city’s jurisdiction to control a citizen’s dress. “People should be able to wear anything they want to wear, how they want to wear it,” said Durham resident Jason Belvin. Others said it is an issue of individual rights. “I don’t condone saggy pants,” said freshman Toney Thompson. “But I think [the ordinance] violates freedom of speech.” Because the City Council shot down his ordinance, Daye said he will regroup and try to rally support with a larger petition so that he can appear before the Council again. |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 05:38 AM Post #6 |
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http://dukechronicle.com/node/149959/talk Fact Checker here. Let's get some more juice on this cop: After executing a search warrant, police in Dothan, Alabama found: -- two pair of handcuffs (Hey Chief Dailey, inventory your supply!). This apparently is in addition to the pair found on the rape victim's wrists. -- a ball gag (if you don't know what this is, ask your friend). This apparently is in addition to one in the rape victim's mouth. -- a thick white rope -- a power source that has not been identified with wires attached to a nail -- a whip and flog (if you don't know the difference, ask the same friend) -- what seems to be medical tubing. The Duke police officer is a suspect in other, similar attacks on women, according to local authorities making the arrest. The cop had been visiting Alabama on his days off from Duke. The suspect had his Duke police uniform, his service revolver and his handcuffs with him at the time of his arrest (which apparently was in a motel room). There is no specific word about his Duke badge, whether that counts as part of the uniform. The woman allegedly attacked woke up tied up -- with a ball gag in her mouth. “I would definitely characterize it as a bondage rape,” said a spokesman for the local sheriff. “This is definitely more unusual than what we usually see.” Oh yes, Fact Checker has learned DUKE HAS SUSPENDED THE OFFICER WITH PAY. Previously he was a Master Officer with the Raleigh Police Department, apparently taking that title Master seriously! |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:37 AM Post #7 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/161332.html Published Wed, Oct 28, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Wed, Oct 28, 2009 03:38 AM Did a fox guard the hens? Colon Willoughby is losing his cool. And that is odd. Normally, the Wake County District Attorney is the picture of composure. Calm, self-assured but not arrogant. He is no firebrand as DA. But he is hard-working and earnest. Never a backslapper. Polite to a fault. When I think straight-arrow, I think Willoughby. Which may be why he's so rattled by the case of Greg Taylor, who was prosecuted by one of Willoughby's lieutenants 16 years ago and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a woman in 1991. Taylor, who like lots of prisoners has always maintained his innocence, appealed and appealed. His case finally came to attention of the state's Innocence Inquiry Commission, which found that it warrants a hearing before a three-judge panel. The suggestion that Willoughby's office might have been involved in any miscarriage of justice, however unintentional, seems to have set our unflappable district attorney off his beam. I called Willoughby the other day to ask him a question. Specifically: Why he had allowed Assistant District Attorney Tom Ford to assist him in reviewing the Taylor case, even though Ford is the ADA who prosecuted Taylor in the first place. To me, that's like asking bank executives to determine whether their bonuses were excessive. (They weren't!) Willoughby, of course, views it differently. For one thing, he pointed out hotly, "The innocence commission found no misconduct in the prosecution of the case." Therefore, he said, his review is a fact-finding mission. And because he was having to put aside other pressing business and wade through thousands of pages of documents, "I only thought it prudent to have Tom help me." Ford was, after all, familiar with the case. Very familiar. Ford is the one who as recently as 2003 asked a judge to deny Taylor's motion seeking post-conviction DNA testing. (Taylor's family had offered to pay for the tests.) Ford's role in the prosecution makes him an appropriate person to interview about the case. But not to help review it. In past "true innocence" cases, police and prosecutors have been the ones accused of tunnel vision. But in this case, Willoughby said, it's the innocence commission that has tunnel vision. "We view that it was a rush to judgment." If Willoughby sounds defensive, he said, that's because he doesn't appreciate the suggestion that his office is purposely keeping an innocent man in prison. Willoughby doesn't think Taylor's innocence is clear at all. The other man who has confessed to the murder is terminally ill and suffers mental illness. Not that Willoughby's office bothered to interview him in preparing its response to the commission's findings. Willoughby wants people to remember that the innocence commission did not actually reach a decision as to Taylor's innocence. This is a process. He's right about that. "What I've been trying to do is follow the law," Willoughby said. "I do have that responsibility, but apparently nobody else does." What Willoughby needs to remember is that he's not the one who's been aggrieved. If anyone has, it's Taylor. We'll leave that to a three-judge panel to decide. ruth.sheehan@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4828 |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:39 AM Post #8 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/161451.html Published Wed, Oct 28, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Wed, Oct 28, 2009 05:01 AM Politics thrives on good money, bad memories RALEIGH The lid of the state Capitol dome has been peeled back this week. The State Board of Elections has the crowbar and flashlight, and the political operatives are scurrying for cover. During a hearing about whether former Gov. Mike Easley violated campaign finance laws, a parade of politicos, connected lawyers, developers and assorted country slickers have described under oath how things get done in Raleigh. The common denominator is money -- lots of it. California Assembly leader Jesse Unruh said, "Money is the mother's milk of politics." In North Carolina, it is the sweet tea of elections. To get elected to two terms as governor, Easley, a Democrat, raised $18 million. Maybe $1 million came from family and friends. The rest came from people who wanted something: appointments to university boards or state commissions, approval of development projects, or environmental permits or other favors. A generation ago, North Carolina politics was driven by courthouse machines fueled by patronage jobs. Today, politics is dominated by television advertising, which is a black hole for campaign cash. Easley's chief fundraiser, Michael Hayden, was hired because he was said to be relentless. (He prefers "persistent.") He was so important that he moved into Easley's unused Raleigh house while Easley was living in the Executive Mansion. Investigators produced memos, which Easley campaign officials said they couldn't remember, that suggested individual donation limits ($4,000 per person) and the ban on corporate contributions were for suckers. They suggested that money should go to the Democratic Party, to which people can give much larger donations. Gary Allen, formerly a Charlotte real estate developer who now lives in Naples, Fla., gave the maximum $4,000 individual contribution to Easley in 2003. He then twice wrote $50,000 checks to the state Democratic Party. At the time, Allen was having difficulty getting a permit to build a boat ramp for a coastal development, although he said his donations were unrelated. Allen was hooked up with Ruffin Poole, the governor's lawyer, who also operated as an all-around Mr. Political Fix-it for Easley. "You thought he would have some insight into the Division of Water Quality?" Bill Peaslee, an elections board member, asked Allen. Allen said he had been advised to talk with Poole. Jim Cooney, a Democratic Party lawyer, noted that Allen got that permit only after he hired a marine engineer and spent an extra $150,000 to address environmental problems. Despite the ban on corporate contributions to candidates, Raleigh businessman McQueen Campbell was practically running an off-the-books airline charter service for Easley, providing him with 61 free flights. Campbell was rewarded with a seat on the N.C. State University Board of Trustees; he also worked with Allen's development firm. Free corporate flights. Donations exceeding state legal limits. Campaign funds being used to make repairs on the governor's private house. And campaign staffers with sudden cases of acute amnesia. Mark Hanna, the old Ohio boss, once remarked: "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't remember what the second one is." rob.christensen@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4532 |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:40 AM Post #9 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/161452.html Published Wed, Oct 28, 2009 04:35 AM Modified Wed, Oct 28, 2009 04:59 AM The collector can't recollect They asked; they prodded. Dave Horne just couldn't remember. Horne, who was treasurer for former Gov. Mike Easley's gubernatorial campaigns, struggled to understand or recall the answer to many questions during his testimony Tuesday morning to the State Board of Elections. Board members asked him repeatedly about who helped craft the campaign's money-raising plans, which included a memo that outlined ways to keep "controversial" people off campaign finance reports. He said he could not remember all the names. Board member Bill Peaslee asked which of the contributors to the plan Horne could identify. "What do you mean by 'contribute'?" Horne asked. Peaslee responded: "You tell me what you meant when you said you can't remember the names of all the people who contributed to the plan." Board member Charles Winfree asked whether Horne remembered details about a flight he was on that was piloted by McQueen Campbell. "Was that a campaign flight?" Winfree asked. "I don't remember," Horne said. "Do you remember where you went?" "I don't," Horne said, adding that he did remember that Easley was on the flight. "Quite frankly, my memory is very hazy about that." |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:41 AM Post #10 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/161454.html Published Wed, Oct 28, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Wed, Oct 28, 2009 04:55 AM Poole was often Easley's shadow Ruffin Poole was a newly minted lawyer in the late 1990s when he started working in an obscure section of the state Attorney General's Office for Mike Easley. By the time Easley left office as a two-term governor this year, Poole had risen to executive counsel. He was a patronage boss and a go-to guy on economic development, environmental issues, transportation concerns and other regulatory matters. He came to be known as a fixer. Poole was active in some of Easley's political efforts, putting him at the intersection of shepherding government action while raising money for candidates, according to records and testimony from the State Board of Elections hearing this week on Easley's fundraising. Elections board members have been asking about Poole and want to talk with him. He isn't giving interviews, and Monday he persuaded a Wake judge to quash a subpoena that would have required his testimony. Poole argued that the attorney-client privilege protected him from talking. Elections board members, all five of them lawyers, voted unanimously to appeal. They say they want to hear from Poole about fundraising and wouldn't delve into privileged matters. They cut short the hearing on Tuesday to help prepare the case for the state Court of Appeals . It was set to be heard at 9:30 a.m. today. Joe Sinsheimer, a political consultant who has become a campaign finance watchdog, said testimony about Poole has raised some concerns. "It would be inappropriate for the governor's counsel to be involved in high-dollar fundraising at the same time he's interacting with multiple state departments," Sinsheimer said. "Mr. Poole should have been smart enough to know that there has to be a dividing line." Poole, 37, graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1994 and went to work for a top lobbyist, Zeb Alley. He soon entered law school at N.C. Central in Durham, where Easley's wife, Mary, was a professor. He is active in Raleigh's arts community. Close to governor Poole was often seen a few steps behind or beside the governor at key meetings. He is now Easley's colleague at the McGuireWoods law firm in Raleigh. Questions about Easley have arisen during the past year related to big-money donors who won appointments and possibly flouted campaign-finance rules. There are also questions of dismissed violations for an Easley friend at the Division of Motor Vehicles. And there has been attention on environmental permits, too. Poole operated in all those areas, and his name has appeared on subpoenas to state agencies seeking information for a federal grand jury that is probing subjects dealing with Easley. Poole traveled with Easley frequently and many times was the only other passenger besides a trooper to ride with the governor aboard state aircraft. Most of the trips he was on were for political reasons, records show, such as a trip the two made to Chicago in June 2008 to meet with then-candidate Barack Obama and other governors. Easley also appointed Poole to the Golden LEAF foundation board, which oversees how millions from the national tobacco settlement are distributed in North Carolina. Several close Easley advisers are on the panel. Politics and fundraising Testimony this week has also shown Poole involved in politics and fundraising. For example, millionaire developer Lanny Wilson of Wilmington wrote a $10,000 check for the state Democratic Party in 2006, but he mailed it directly to an Easley campaign post box and addressed it only to Ruffin Poole. On Tuesday, a developer, Gary Allen, testified about having trouble getting permits for a boat ramp and dock at a coastal neighborhood he was building in Brunswick County called Oyster Bay. Allen turned to Wilson, who was a business partner and one of Easley's major fundraisers, for help, he said. Allen said that Wilson reached out to Poole. Allen said he also talked with and maybe wrote to Poole on the issue. Documents show Wilson helped set up a meeting between the governor and Allen for June 4, 2003, as the permit was pending. The purpose was for Easley to solicit a large donation from Allen, Wilson testified. Poole was mentioned in a memo, written to give Easley some background on Allen, about the status of the permit. "Ruffin is familiar with the issue and I would suggest that you touch [base] with him...," Wilson wrote to the campaign's chief fundraiser, Michael Hayden, who was going to brief Easley. A $50,000 check On June 29, records show, Allen wrote a check for $50,000 to the state party. Wilson testified Monday that it was intended for Easley's campaign, which would be a violation of campaign finance law. Allen said he couldn't recall that level of detail. Records show Allen submitted updated requests for the ramp and dock permit on July 9 and July 10, 2003. The state Division of Coastal Management issued the permit on Oct. 16 that year, records show. Allen denied that his campaign donation had any connection to the permit issue. And he said Poole didn't really smooth the way. He said he ended up having to hire an engineering firm, and had to spend tens of thousands more than he planned to construct a bridge that alleviated concerns and won the permit. "It really had nothing to do with anything else," Allen said of his donation. acurliss@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4840 |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:43 AM Post #11 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/161459.html Published Wed, Oct 28, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Wed, Oct 28, 2009 06:08 AM Easley camp pushed donation law's limits 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. The board heard from Easley's former campaign treasurer, lobbyist Dave Horne; finance director Michael Hayden and strategist Mac McCorkle. Gary Allen, a Charlotte-area developer and major contributor, also testified about two $50,000 contributions he gave to the party in 2003 and 2004. None said they were involved in or were aware of efforts to use the party to funnel large contributions to Easley's campaigns in 2000 and 2004. "I would never intentionally break the law," said Hayden, who has also worked on governor's campaigns in South Carolina and Oklahoma. 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, likely 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." However, if donors gave to the party with the intent of the money going to a specific candidate, it would have been illegal. A way around the rule 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 admitted it looked like something he might draft. The former campaign officials also said they could not recall many details regarding the campaign's inner workings. Allen, the Charlotte developer who now lives in Florida, displayed a foggy memory and did not support Wilson's testimony regarding Allen's $50,000 donation. At times, election board members expressed exasperation. The board tried to home in on a comment Horne made about a group of people involved in the campaign who would be involved in major fundraising decisions. But Horne could only name one other person, R.V. Owens, a nephew to Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat. "I was disappointed and surprised that they couldn't remember more than they did," board member Charles Winfree said after Tuesday's testimony. "Mr. Hayden, Mr. Horne and Mr. Allen in particular seemed like they were not able to remember things that I would think they ordinarily could remember." Gave more than it took McCorkle told the board that he dealt little with campaign finance, serving as an issues consultant who did not work directly for Easley's gubernatorial campaigns. McCorkle said he was a subcontractor to Easley's media consultant, Saul Schorr, who is based in Philadelphia. Jim Cooney, an attorney for the state Democratic Party, dismissed the notion of an illegal fundraising scheme as he questioned Horne. Cooney said that Easley's campaign committee raised far more money for the party than it got back. Cooney used an easel to list the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Easley raised for the party as part of coordinated campaigns for all statewide candidates. "If the plan was to have the Easley campaign funded through donations from the North Carolina Democratic Party, it is fair to say it was a miserable failure," Cooney said. But board members noted that the numbers Cooney displayed were not supported by any evidence presented Tuesday, nor was Cooney a sworn witness. "Have they been verified by us?" Leake said. "No, they have not. But we are working on it." dan.kane@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4861 |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:44 AM Post #12 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/160996.html Published Wed, Oct 28, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Tue, Oct 27, 2009 05:39 PM When money talks Just about any business operation has an invoice or something like it listing goods delivered or services rendered. The customer remits the balance due, and the invoice gets stamped "Paid." Transferring that model to the world of politics -- they call it pay to play -- spells trouble. But in some instances, Mike Easley seems to have been running the governor's office just like any other hot dog stand. Want a hot dog -- or, as the case may be, a development permit or a seat on an influential state board? We'll take cash, check or credit card. That brings us to the current proceedings before the State Board of Elections. It turns out that an Easley fundraiser, Lanny Wilson, recognized a likely "customer" in the person of Charlotte developer Gary Allen. What Allen was shopping for was the governor's help in securing approval of a boat ramp permit, and also reappointment to the state Wildlife Commission. Already, Wilson noted, Easley had helped set up a meeting between Allen and Progress Energy to discuss a land deal. Of course Allen would not have been given an actual bill, and there's no reason to conclude that any direct quid pro quo was discussed. But Allen in short order came up with a $50,000 contribution to the state Democratic Party. Wilson told the elections board the money was destined for Easley's 2004 re-election campaign. Boat ramp permit -- approved. Wildlife Commission reappointment -- approved. Oh, and would Allen's brother and business partner, Randy, like a seat on the commission as well? Call it a customer loyalty reward. Wilson, manwhile, was enjoying a seat at the high rollers' table known as the state Board of Transportation. Governors since the dawn of time have rewarded their supporters with patronage plums and other favorable treatment. Here, the support may have come in the form of large contributions routed so as to evade legal limits on the size of contributions to a candidate's campaign. Maybe Easley & Co. thought it was just business -- but weren't they supposed to be public servants? |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:45 AM Post #13 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/160994.html Published Wed, Oct 28, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Wed, Oct 28, 2009 05:14 AM Duty first McQueen Campbell, a man who once flew with a governor, was back down on Earth. Campbell was the star witness as the state Board of Elections on Monday opened a hearing into many facets of the political campaigns of former Gov. Mike Easley, who also is central to a broad federal investigation touching some of the same issues as those brought up by the elections board. As the hearing continued yesterday, the buzz was that Easley might testify today, or soon. That likely would run counter to the advice of many attorneys who would not want a client subject to a federal probe answering questions publicly and under oath. But Easley has a larger obligation, and that is to the people of North Carolina, who twice elected him attorney general and twice put him in the governor's mansion. This inquiry is relevant to the integrity of the electoral process and the credibility of Easley's performance as governor. He should speak. And he has some explaining to do: Why did the accounting of airplane flights courtesy of Campbell, whom Easley later appointed to the N.C. State University Board of Trustees and who was involved in the then-governor's purchase of an expensive coastal lot at a large discount, appear to be so loosey-goosey? In examining that issue, the hearing turned up more questions than answers. Campbell says he never submitted an invoice for any flights; he thought the campaign would take care of the paperwork. (The flights, as gifts, would have exceeded limits on individual campaign contributions.) What's the story on repairs to Easley's private home in Raleigh, at the end of 2004? Campbell said he paid for the repairs, and when he wasn't reimbursed, Easley asked him if there were any unbilled airplane flights. Campbell testified he took that to mean that he should "bill the campaign for those unbilled flights to cover those amounts (the repairs)." In any case, Campbell said he was paid for the initial repairs and later ones by the Easley campaign. But along the way, a secretary for the campaign questioned the documentation on Campbell's request for reimbursement, through invoices for flights. Campbell told the board Monday that no flights correlated to those payments. The secretary said she got a call from the governor telling her to pay Campbell. The stories get curiouser and curiouser, as some folks would say: a vehicle provided to the governor by a dealer who said the arrangement was unique. That beach lot discount. Easley's part in getting his wife a very good job at N.C. State University. (A chancellor and provost, along with Campbell, resigned their positions in the wake of that controversy.) These things occurred while Easley was in office. The elections board also is pursuing the money trail -- how the governor raised campaign money, how the state Democratic Party spent it, who gave it (some big contributors were rewarded with the traditional perks of appointments to state boards). The hearings may have been tedious in spots but there have been moments of drama. And through it all, as the questions have accumulated, it's clear that the one person around whom those questions linger must be heard from. Perhaps the former governor will be able to convince the elections board, and the public, that a tempest is brewing in a teapot, or that all of the controversies swirling about him represent a big misunderstanding. In this case, duty's call trumps selfish caution. |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:47 AM Post #14 |
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http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters/story/160997.html Published Wed, Oct 28, 2009 02:00 AM Modified Wed, Oct 28, 2009 05:17 AM Residents reported club's pumping in 2002 We are pleased that you finally reported how, during the terrible drought of 2002, the exclusive Old Chatham Golf Club, wanting to keep its greens from turning brown, diverted millions of gallons of water that should have gone directly into Jordan Lake ("In drought, Easley's club got water," Oct. 18). You are not quite right, however, when you say that this activity has not been previously disclosed. In July 2002, residents of the area were well aware of all the four-inch hoses stretching almost a mile along O'Kelly Chapel Road from Northwest Creek to the holding ponds of the golf club. Several of us, in fact, reported this surreptitious pumping to local news organizations. When the management of the club understood that at least one TV station was coming to film, the pumping stopped. We still recall the club official's denial that the club was doing anything wrong and his assertion that, in fact, it was actually doing a service by giving the water extra filtration and purification. Edmund Reiss Durham Brenda Berry Durham |
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| abb | Oct 28 2009, 06:49 AM Post #15 |
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http://www.examiner.com/x-7812-DC-SCOTUS-Examiner~y2009m10d27-Liberal-reporter-smears-Justice-Scalia-falsely-claiming-he-would-have-upheld-segregation Another example is the Duke Lacrosse case, where the prosecutor was later jailed for misconduct for pressing a baseless interracial rape case against innocent Lacrosse players. DNA evidence proved the players were innocent, and North Carolina’s attorney general admitted that they were in fact innocent. But the New York Times’ Duff Wilson claimed that a substantial “body of evidence” pointed to the defendants’ guilt. CBS News legal “analyst” Andrew Cohen repeatedly denounced the Duke Lacrosse players, calling for the gagging of their attorneys. At a time when few journalists dared question the rape claim for fear of being seen as politically incorrect, Cohen absurdly claimed that the media had rushed to the “defense” of the players and that “there is no balanced coverage in the Duke case. There is just one defense-themed story after another.” He demanded for prosecutor Mike Nifong “the privilege of seeing the case unfold at trial” against the players, rather than dropping the prosecution. Sadly, both Wilson and Cohen still have their jobs, suggesting that liberal bias is viewed as a plus when it comes to employment with the “mainstream” media. (Cohen’s “evidence-free” commentaries denouncing Justice Scalia are a self-parody of left-wing bias). |
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7:45 AM Nov 25
