Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, issued the following press release today:
Raleigh, N.C. ? Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) today called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate issues surrounding former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley and his associates in connection with reports of possible violations of campaign laws and ethics rules.
According to a recent series in the News & Observer, former Gov. Easley took at least 25 flights on private jets with some in apparent violation of state campaign contribution limits.? It appears that many of the individuals who provided the flights were rewarded with plum appointments to powerful state boards.? For example, the News & Observer highlighted Gov. Easley?s close relationship with a N.C. State Trustee (appointed twice by Easley) who provided free flights, supported Mary Easley?s $170,000 job at N.C. State and helped Gov. Easley obtain an extraordinarily good deal on a piece of coastal property.? The newspaper also recently uncovered that members of the Easley family were provided personal use vehicles at no charge by car dealers supportive of the former Governor.
?The silence from North Carolina?s chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Roy Cooper, regarding these serious allegations is deafening,? said Berger.? ?But we should not be surprised since most of those under scrutiny are Democrats and he will not risk offending them while seeking their support for a possible U.S. Senate campaign.? For these reasons, we need an independent special prosecutor, free from political pressures, free from conflicts of interest and free to investigate these improprieties and allegations of corruption wherever they might lead.?
