SBOE wraps for the day, 4:00 p.m.
Leake says the only other witness they plan to call is Scott Falmlen, who was the state Democratic Party executive director from 1999 to 2005. He says they plan to spend an extended period of time questioning him, so best to leave that until morning.
The board will reconvene at 9:30 a.m.
Boyce excused, 3:57 p.m.
After spending 5 hours with Easley, SBOE now blowing through witnesses. Boyce is done.
Boyce discusses aircraft, 3:55 p.m.
Boyce testified that she was not involved in securing Campbell’s aircraft for travel.
Photo credit: Don Carrington
She accompanied Easley on flights. ?I can recall two occasions where I flew with McQueen Campbell and the governor,” she said. She testified she never heard discussions between Campbell and Easley about payment for the flights.
She said she wasn’t aware of vehicles from Bleecker.
Walker done, Cari Boyce sworn in, 3:50 p.m.
Walker’s testimony lasted about 10 minutes.
Cari Boyce, Easley’s press secretary, just sworn in.
Hearings back in session, 3:38 p.m.
Beverly Walker, Easley’s personal secretary, is sworn in.
She said she wasn’t involved with arranging air travel for the governor. She says security handled that. She admits to having met Campbell.
Photo credit: Don Carrington
She said she did not recall whether Campbell came to see the governor. ?I have seen him in the capital,” she said.
What about the Bleecker cars? ?The only conversation I had with Easley was when he was trying to check back to see if any payments had been made by himself for the vehicles,? she said.
She found that there had been no such payments.
She doesn?t recall repairs to his personal residence being discussed, nor payment for repairs.
Easley is done, 2:16 p.m.
Easley just finished his testimony. The SBOE hearing is in recess until 3:30 p.m.
Cooney’s argument, 2:15 p.m.
Cooney argues that the “special account” in the N.C. Democratic Party were designed for legislative candidates in 2006 and 2008.
Cooney with his much maligned easel.
Photo credit: David Bass
SBOE done with questions, 2:00 p.m.
The SBOE is done with its questions. Lawyers now asking questions of Easley.
Cooney, lawyer for the state Democratic Party, points out that Easley has been testifying almost 5 hours. He sets up a chart again, this time not in front of the WRAL-TV pool camera, thankfully.
The only thing left, 1:50 p.m.
Cordle says the only thing left in the investigation is the allegation that Campbell made that he made repairs to house and then submitted an invoice that talked about airplane travel.
?I testified that we didn?t have any conversation about that ? and I don?t know where he got that idea, but he did not get it from me,” Easley says.
Easley says he?s willing to pay any money to Campbell that he might owe for the repairs.
Robert Cordle begins questioning, 1:40 p.m.
SBOE member Robert Cordle, a Democrat, is now asking Easley questions. To judge from Cordle’s previous line of questioning, Cordle will tee up a few softballs for the former governor.
Cordle asks whether Easley made efforts to pay for the cars and pay for the flights. Easley responds in the affirmative. ?If we owe anybody any money, we ought to pay it,? Easley says.
Testimony running long, continues, 1:38 p.m.
Easley is still testifying. It’s been over 4 hours since he was sworn in.
Easley’s treasurer, Dave Horne, testified yesterday for about 2 and 1/2 hours. Easley has overtaken him handily.
Doesn’t look like the SBOE will be done with its questions anytime soon.
Lanny Wilson and Easley, 1:25 p.m.
Easley said he never had a conversation with Wilson where Easley suggested to him that money given to the N.C. Democratic Party could then be directed specifically back to Easley?s campaign.
?I just was not aware of all of the law on that,” Easley says regarding the coordinated campaign.
Asked if he had any understanding that Dems? coordinated campaign would pay for staff or other specifics for Easley, Easley defers to Scott Falmlen.
?If I start down the road of those questions, I?ll be speculating, which wouldn?t be fair to you. It wouldn?t be fair to me, either,” Easley says.
Cell phone snafu, 1:15 p.m.
SBOE executive director Gary Bartlett’s cell phone just went off, providing a brief moment of humor.
Bartlett is seated near the board members at the front of the room. He stood up and walked out the back door while the phone continued playing the UNC fight song.
That one got more chuckles than Leake’s “leak” joke on Monday.
Easley has been testifying nearly 4 hours — still going.
Back to Campbell, 1:00 p.m.
Board member Anita Earls now questioning Easley.
Easley assumed that Campbell had been paid for all of the flights he provided the former governor, he said.
Easley said he never mentioned anything about repairs to the house associated with invoices from Campbell. ?There was never any conversation with him or with me where he could imply, read my mind or anything else, that I wanted him to submit any bogus invoices,” Easley says.
Trusting campaign staffers, 12:45 p.m.
?I had another full-time job, so I had to pick people who I could trust? for the campaign, Easley says. ?Do you want to focus on your checkbook, or have good pre-K??
Photo credit: David Bass
?At some point, you have to let go. I did that with a lot of these things. You can be critical of some of that if you want to, and that?s fine with me,” Easley says.
Fundraising memos, 12:30 p.m.
?I wasn?t in the loop on these kinds of things,? Easley said of two memos presented by board memo Bill Peaslee.
The memos indicate a coordinated effort to funnel donations through the Democratic Party for the Easley campaign.
Campaign headquarters, 12:15 p.m.
Easley says he doesn?t know where his campaign headquarters was, either in 2000 or in 2004.
Easley and Gary Allen, 12:00 p.m.
?I know a developer Gary Allen,” Easley says. Did he contribute to the campaign? ?I don?t know how much, but I knew he has been a big donor to political campaigns for a long time,” Easley says.
Easley says he can’t recall ever discussing permits with Allen.
?I don?t recall any of that,” he says. “Gary Allen is not the type who would ever bring that up to me. If he ever did discuss something like that with me, it wouldn?t be at the same time he was giving me checks, I can promise you that.?
Testimony begins again, 11:50 a.m.
Board members are now asking Easley questions. Chuck Winfree says he plans to go over some of the same ground covered by Leake.
Winfree asks whether Easley was aware of a plan to funnel donations to N.C. Dems, and he says no. Easley says he “probably” would have remember having any discussions like that.
“I didn’t even know what anybody was getting paid” on the campaign, Easley says.
Board takes a 10-minute break, Easley testimony to continue, 11:30 a.m.
Re-directing funds, 11:25 a.m.
Leake: Do you know anything about re-directing from Easley campaign to N.C. Dems?
Easley: ?I would hope that wouldn?t happen.?
Leake: Our concern is that an individual maxed out on donations can send the campaign a check, and then they re-direct that check to the party. Are you aware of that?
Easley: ?I?m not familiar with the practice. I don?t recall it. But it certainly sounds reasonable. There is a lot about that that I wouldn?t know.?
Ruffin Poole and Easley, 11:20 a.m.
Leake: ?I feel compelled to ask you: have you at any point in time as it relates to campaign fundraising matters or expenditures ever directed or requested Mr. Poole to assert attorney-client privilege and not to answer the questions to this board?”
Easley: “No, sir. I never asked him to assert any privilege ? he has had no discussion with me regarding that at all.?
Special governor’s account, 11:10 a.m.
Leake says that he believes the board of elections has identified an account within the Democratic Party known as the ?governor?s account.? Leake asks Easley whether he heard about that.
“I can?t say for sure,” Easley says.
Coordinated campaign discussion, 11:00 a.m.
Easley is now testifying about coordinated campaign. Big issue here in light of previous testimony about donations allegedly being funneled to Easley through the state party, possibly to circumvent campaign finance limits.
Leake asks whether any representations from the party in 2006 told Easley that if he raised funds for the party, the party would redirect those funds or expend those funds for the campaign.
?I don?t recall the party ever giving up any control over their money,” Easley says.
Suing the newspaper, 10:50 a.m.
Easley says that Campbell told him in Feb. ?09 that there was going to be a negative article in the newspaper about the flights. Campbell wanted to sue the newspaper. Easley said that Campbell would have to get a First Amendment lawyer to handle that.
Easley said he hasn’t talked with Campbell since.
Campbell and Easley hitting the blue, 10:45 a.m.
Leake asks if Easley knew how many times Campbell flew him around.
?I don?t know,” Easley says. “I?ve made hundreds and hundreds of flights over the 16 years I was in statewide office, many of them on state airplanes and many on private, and from a lot of vendors.”
“The important thing is that we get it sorted out, and if we owe it, we pay it. It surprises me that [Campbell] says that now when in the past he told me that he had been paid for all those flights.?
Billing for flights, 10:35 a.m.
Leake asks Easley about invoices from McQueen Campbell for flights, one of which Rebecca McGhee had requested backup documentation on.
Easley acknowledges that he made the phone call to McGhee. “These two invoices are totally unrelated, at least in my mind, to anything to do with the house,” Easley says.
Easley said he suggested to Campbell that he enter into a pre-bill system where he sells a block of time, and then bill at a future point for those blocks of time. So, Easley suggested that Campbell bill in advance.
Campbell called him later again for a second time and said he hadn’t been paid yet.
Easley said he called and talked to McGhee and told her to pay the bill. “My state of mind was, ‘Can’t you all just work this out? … I don’t have time to mess with these invoices.'”
?It never, ever happened,? Easley said in regards to Campbell billing the campaign for repairs to Easley?s home rather than for the free flights.
Tight with the pocketbook, 10:30 a.m.
?I am tight with the state?s money,? Easley says in response to an accusation from Leake that he was tight with his own money.
Insurance troubles, 10:20 a.m.
Easley says he didn?t want to file insurance on the water damage to his house because he owned coastal property and had filed claims in 1996 for hurricane damage. He was concerned the insurance company would drop his policy.
It appears that Campbell submitted a request for insurance reimbursement against Easley?s wishes.
Picking on a governor, 10:15 a.m.
At the beginning of questioning, Leake says, ?I?ve always wanted to pick on a governor. It?s a rare opportunity.?
Christmas ornaments, 10:10 a.m.
Leake asks whether Easley knows anything about $3,800 in Christmas ornaments that ended up either in his possession or that of the campaign.
Photo credit: Don Carrington
“No, sir,” Easley replies. “The only Christmas ornaments I?m familiar with are the ones we put up at the mansion each year, and those are either donated or the same ones. There is a lot of history to them.?
Jr. and the car, 10:00 a.m.
Easley says that his son, Michael Jr., was involved with the campaign doing research and traveling.
Easley says that during ?03 and ?04, the Yukon stayed at the governor’s mansion. That’s his “best recollection.”
?You are a tight parent? Leake says in response to Easley?s testimony that he sent Mike Jr. to law school without a car during his first year.
Who made the call, 9:58 a.m.
Leake asks whether Bleecker made the first call about paying for the vehicle, as he testified Monday.
?My recollection is that the last time I talked to Mr. Bleecker, I was vacuuming out my fireplace, and the vacuum cleaner became unhooked, and all the dust started blowing out the back, and I hanged up. We didn?t discuss the car at all,” Easley says.
Monopoly money, 9:55 a.m.
Easley says he kept a tight hold on the billfold. Leake asks him, if that’s so, why he never reviewed a campaign finance report.
Easley replies that he was concerned with two employees being hired in the campaign to do the job of one, and also expensive ads.
Photo credit: Don Carrington
?The people in campaigns, Mr. Chairman, will use money like Monopoly money,” Easley says. “They?ll spend all you got. When I saw some of that going on ? I did get a little irritated and decided we needed to cut back on what we spent next time.?
Never saw campaign reports, 9:45 a.m.
?To my knowledge, I don?t think I?ve ever seen a campaign report,” Easley says. “My concern was the message, what the ads were going to say ? because at the end of the day, I had to deliver on what we said I was going to do.?
?We tried to run a lean operation? in 2004, Easley said of his campaign. ?I saw a lot of money get used up by the campaign the first time.?
Easley asked about Bleecker vehicles, 9:35 a.m.
Leake immediately asks Easley about Bleecker automobiles that the Easley family received.
Bleecker ?just works things out,? Easley said. ?He got paid, and we had a vehicle. He was satisfied and we were satisfied.?
Leake says that Bleecker testified that he received no payments for the Yukon until spring of this year.
“I think that?s what our records showed, but I don?t think he [Bleecker] knew that,” Easley. “We didn?t deal with him directly, we dealt with his dealership. It was not something he was involved in.?
SBOE convenes for third day, Easley walks in, 9:30 a.m.
Former Gov. Mike Easley is in the house. He’s sworn in.
