mike easley

It's called "immunity." Did you hear Kenerly refer to NCGS 163-278.29 when addressing the judge? It reads:

§ 163‑278.29. Compelling self‑incriminating testimony; individual so testifying excused from prosecution.

But the tarring, feathering, and riding out of town on a rail probably won't happen:

The plea to a felony would be entered in state court. As part of the deal, federal authorities would not take any other action against Easley.

Under sentencing guidelines, Easley is unlikely to receive an active prison sentence. He would face a possible fine, and the potential loss of his law license.

I can hear the right-wing parrots now, clearing their throats of cracker dust so they can add this new name to their incessantly chanted list of crooked Democrats. What was that? I didn't hear you the 47th time you said it...

Well, now you know.

With all the national, statewide, and regional headscratching going on about North Carolina politics, namely in the Eighth Congressional District's 2010 Republican primary runoff election, it should come as no surprise that in Richmond County, the heart of the district, Sheriff deputies have discovered 60,000 marijuana plants.

Ruffin Poole, a longtime aide to former Gov. Mike Easley who is accused of 57 corruption counts, has reached a plea deal with prosecutors, court records indicate.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/04/19/1385623/plea-deal-reached-fo...

Quick: What causes a politician's popularity to tank? A controversial vote, weak performance, general voter unrest ... all can cause poll numbers to drift downward. But for your approval ratings to really bottom out, it takes a scandal.

Cross-posted at dKos

Mike Easley's former communications director dropped a bombshell on Tuesday--her boss conducted state business on a secret email account.

Easley's former communications director Sherri Johnson testified in a deposition that Easley kept the secret account and used it for state business. Johnson was being deposed as part of a public records lawsuit filed by The N&O, The Charlotte Observer, The John Locke Foundation and several other news media outlets over access to e-mail messages.

The news organizations sued after some public information officers in state government said Easley's administration routinely deleted e-mail communication and advised other state public information officers to do the same. The state's public records law says that e-mail messages are public records no different than other state documents.

According to Johnson, the email account was under the name "Nick Danger," written backwards because Easley had a habit of writing backwards. Nick Danger, for those who don't know, is a character from a 1960s comedy troupe.

From what I can see, Ruffin Poole got turned to the Dark Side and will take the fall for Easley's entire corrupt administration. Will Mr. Mike skate free, along with Lanny Wilson, who appears to be hanging his buddy Poole out to dry? That's my bet, but what do I know. I'm the consummate outsider ... a good place to be.

PDNC has released a statement today that calls for the North Carolina Democratic Party to lead the fight against political corruption. We have invited Party Chair David Young (see letter here) to join us in making sure that the necessary reforms are put into place. We need to make sure that the scandals that have discredited our party in recent years--with the revelations that have surfaced in the Easley hearings being just the latest outrage in a string of far too many-will not continue to damage the Democratic Party or the democratic process.

You might have missed it -- the media largely has -- but in the final hours of testimony yesterday at the N.C. State Board of Elections' hearings into former Gov. Michael Easley (D), Democratic attorneys unleashed an unexpected bombshell: Testimony from a former IRS criminal investigator that at least three Republican candidates for governor failed to disclose dozens -- perhaps hundreds -- of campaign flights in 2004 and 2008, the very charge that helped launch the investigation into Easley.