An attorney for a state workers' group said a proposal to drop a lawsuit was not bribery.

At a hearing in Wake County Superior Court this morning, John K. Wiles argued that an attorney for the State Employees Association of North Carolina was not trying to bribe an attorney for Richard Moore when he said it would drop a lawsuit if Moore backed a bill.

Wiles argued that the proposal was standard "political bargaining." He said that kind of back-and-forth is "goes on all the time" in a democracy.

"It's messy, but we happen to think it's the best way to run a country," he said. "It's a lot better than what's going on in Iraq, where people shoot each other to settle things."

Wiles said the offer was not a bribe, since Moore's support of the bill would not be part of his "official duties" as state treasurer. He also argued that while such support would not have been a likely outcome of the trial, it was still a legitimate bargaining chip.

"It's simply a bargain for resolution in a civil lawsuit," he said. "Lawsuits are settled all the time on terms that neither party could have gotten if they had pursued the lawsuit all the way to final judgment."

An attorney for Richard Moore said a proposal by a state workers' group "set off alarms."

Standing before Wake County Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin this morning, Raleigh attorney Kieran Shanahan said that he was surprised by an alleged proposal from an attorney for the State Employees Association of North Carolina to drop a lawsuit in exchange for Moore's support of a bill.

In a motion, Shanahan argued that SEANC attorney Tom Harris tried to bribe them in a phone call and a subsequent e-mail to him.

"It became clear that their political motivation for bringing the suit was to somehow effect policy-making and laws," he said, adding later, "It is outrageous, it is offensive and it's in violation of the law."

Shanahan said he felt "duty bound" to report Harris' alleged proposal to the judge as well as the North Carolina Bar under the "rules of professional responsibility."

He also echoed earlier arguments in the case that SEANC's attorneys have failed to identify any public records that Moore's office failed to produce in response to a request last year.

SEANC has said that the case is not politically motivated.

Lawyers for state Treasurer Richard Moore have called for a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a group representing state workers.

In a motion filed in Wake County Superior Court, Raleigh attorney Kieran Shanahan claims that an attorney for the State Employees Association of North Carolina offered to drop a public records lawsuit in exchange for Moore's support for a bill.

The legislation, House Bill 2758, would give a board of trustees control over the state employee's pension fund instead of the state treasurer. Moore, who leaves office in January, opposed a similar bill in the past.

In the motion, Shanahan claims that on June 9 SEANC attorney Tom Harris said in a phone call and a subsequent e-mail that the group would settle the lawsuit if Moore would send a letter to every state legislator urging them to pass the bill, ask House Speaker Joe Hackney to schedule a vote and tesitfy in favor of the bill, among other things.

"Clearly, Plaintiff and its counsel Tom Harris have attempted to engage in a explicit quid pro quo arrangement," Shanahan wrote in the motion, arguing that amounts to bribery of a public official.

The motion will be heard in an emergency hearing this morning.

SEANC filed the lawsuit against Moore in late January, charging that the state treasurer had failed to turn over public records it sought. Moore, then running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, countered that the suit politically motivated.

Hat tip: Mark Johnson