The N&O gets it. Today it asks government officials, and basically the news media itself, not to drop the Jim Black case. Not yet.
We still must find out who this mysterious $500,000 lobbyist was who “loaned” Black money so he could do some real estate deal in Charlotte. And that’s the official story. Big surprise that real estate figures into this. Anyone who spends few hours looking at Mecklenburg County land records soon finds all kinds of interesting connections between office holders, money, and government action.
But back to Black:
Jim Black held one of the highest offices in North Carolina, and he shamed it. He’s headed to prison now for five years-plus because he took some money from chiropractors who appreciated his efforts on their behalf, and some gave him the money in cash in restaurant bathrooms. And just when you thought the story couldn’t get any sleazier, here comes the story of the half-million dollar loan, told by federal prosecutors.
First, an investigation into the loan must proceed. And it needs to be public, no matter who might be embarrassed by it.
Here is another must-know: Did Mr. or Mrs. $500K or their associates contribute to the Jim Black legal defense fund? Recall that prosecutors said that Black did not live up to his plea agreement and supply the state with information regarding any other or on-going wrong-doing. Might there be a reason for that?
Prosecutors may know, and that is important. But as so much of this matter involves restoring public trust in a corrupt system, the public needs to have a full accounting of who paid whom what for what.
There is still time to drag the rotting excesses of Raleigh out into the sunlight and disinfect the body politic. But that window is surely closing as the wall of secrecy scrambles to rebuild.
