In case you missed it, the News & Observer‘s Andy Curliss reported that Gov. Bev Perdue has hired ace criminal defense attorneys Joe Cheshire V and Wade Smith to advise her in the ongoing investigation of her campaign finances.
Cheshire and Smith run separate downtown law firms, but between them have represented numerous prominent political figures, among them Easley and Phipps. Others include former U.S. Sen. John Edwards; former U.S. Reps. Frank Ballance and Charles Taylor; and former state Sen. R.C. Soles.
Cheshire and Smith also represented two of the three Duke lacrosse players who were exonerated in 2007 in a case that drew national attention.
Smith is a former chairman of the state Democratic Party and a longtime ally to Perdue.
The State Board of Elections fined the Bev Perdue Committee $30,000 for failing to report campaign flights in August. After the fine was levied, additional information about the “aircraft provider” program devised by her 2004 and 2008 campaigns came to light.
The Perdue Committee’s year-end campaign report suggests that she brought Cheshire and Smith aboard after January 1, because neither’s firm received any money from the committee in 2010. So this story may be far from over.
