The State Board of Elections will convene hearings into the campaign finance activities of former Gov. Mike Easley.

The stakes for Easley will be high. Over the last decade, the board has established itself as a first step in corruption investigations. The board's hearings helped lead to the downfall of an Agriculture Commissioner, House member and House Speaker.

1998: Hog farmers and Republican House leaders

2002: Meg Scott Phipps

2006: Jim Black

2007: Mary McAllister

2007: Thomas Wright

2009: Mike Easley

Look for plenty of coverage, analysis, pictures and video next week here at Dome, at newsobserver.com and on the new Investigations blog, which launches Sunday. This weekend watch for stories in The News & Observer.

Immunity is a big deal at State Board of Elections hearings.

Next week, when the board holds hearings into the campaign finance activity of former Gov. Mike Easley, a key question for observers is which, if any, witnesses are granted immunity.

Immunity of course, would prevent prosecutors from charging witnesses with any crimes they testify about. But it would also help ensure that a witness actually has something to say, besides invoking the Constitutional right against self-incrimination. We don't know whether anyone will take the Fifth, but we wouldn't be surprised if it comes up a time or two.

Expect the board and prosecutors to be in lockstep on who gets immunity. That's a lesson learned the hard way during the Meg Scott Phipps hearings in 2002.

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Former Gov. Mike Easley will be the subject of public hearings later this month as part of an ongoing state elections board investigation into questionable activity by the Easley campaign and the state Democratic Party, according to the board's chairman, Larry Leake.

The hearings will begin Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. and could last a week, J. Andrew Curliss reports.

Leake said the hearings will deal with evidence of alleged campaign law violations — and that no one should assume there was any wrongdoing by Easley, the state party or his campaign just because hearings will be held.

"The purpose of the hearings is to find the truth as to what did occur," Leake said.

A spokesman for Easley had said previously that Easley, a Democrat who left office in January after serving eight years, did not think any hearings were necessary.

The hearings will give Easley a chance to publicly appear under oath and answer questions surrounding his campaign. Easley has communicated only through lawyers, spokesmen or written statements since reports in The News & Observer this spring detailed the use of cars and secret flights provided for Easley but for which he did not pay.

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Linda Daves is also calling for a special prosecutor.

The head of the N.C. Republican Party echoed calls by Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger for an independent investigator to look into former Gov. Mike Easley's dealings.

"If Roy Cooper cannot complete a more thorough investigation of the matter than can be conducted by an enterprising journalist, then he cannot be trusted with the task of leading this investigation," she said in a statement.

She noted that Cooper spokeswoman Noelle Talley had cited investigations into other top Democrats, such as Jim Black and Meg Scott Phipps.

"The very fact that his spokeswoman can list fellow Democrats that he has investigated only goes to prove that Democrats in state government are a particularly at-risk population for corrupt behaviors," she said.

A spokeswoman is defending Attorney General Roy Cooper.

In an e-mail to Dome, public information officer Noelle Talley said that the attorney general's office won't comment on any current or potential investigation.

Cooper has been criticized by Republicans who think he should be more vocal about recent news reports about former Gov. Mike Easley's potential violations of campaign finance laws.

Talley noted that Cooper has investigated a number of high-profile Democrats.

"During Attorney General Cooper's tenure, his lawyers and SBI agents have investigated more than 500 public corruption cases, including Jim Black, Thomas Wright, Meg Scott Phipps and Frank Ballance," she wrote.

She added that the department has often worked with other prosecutors.

"Although we have no original prosecution authority, our Department frequently works with federal authorities and local district attorneys to bring charges against elected and appointed officials," she wrote. "The Attorney General can serve as a Special Prosecutor when requested by a local district attorney."

Previously: Senate Republican leader calls for special prosecutor.

The question North Carolina Democrats whisper in the halls is: when are the Republican U.S. attorneys going to be replaced?

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan says the answer is pretty soon, Rob Christensen reports.

Hagan, the Democrat freshman, said she hopes to recommend three new U.S. attorneys for North Carolina in the coming months.

"I would like to get some names fairly soon and make some recommendations," Hagan said in an interview. "I would certainly think by spring or early summer we could have nominees. The timing has a lot do with the president."

She has appointed a panel, headed by former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell to advise her on potential nominees for both federal prosecutors and federal judgeships. Hagan said the group held its first meeting Tuesday.

More after the jump.

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Does Tom Fetzer want to put the N&O out of business?

Democratic consultant Gary Pearce wrote on his Talking About Politics blog that the candidate for state Republican chairman "has a gimmick in his campaign: help put The News & Observer out of business."

The gimmick comes from an e-mail from Fetzer to supporters.

In it, he says he would call on individual donors to pledge $365 a year to the local party for "A Dollar a Day Keeps the Democrats Away Club."

I know that sounds like a lot, but not if you break it down this way: 1) just drink one less cup of coffee or one less Coke a day, or, 2) better yet, read the newspaper online and give the money to the party rather than giving it to the newspaper so they can spend your money to beat Republicans.

In an item on the gimmick, Dome's friends over at TriPol wondered about four state Democrats who did jail time.

"You have to wonder: Do Jim Black, Meg Scott Phipps, Frank Ballance and Kevin Geddings — all Democrats imprisoned after newspaper investigations — get Fetzer's joke?"

To be clear, Fetzer did not single out the N&O in his e-mail.

Britt Cobb will step down at the end of his term.

The secretary of the N.C. Department of Administration told Dome that he has not sought to continue in that position after the end of Gov. Mike Easley's term.

"I've had my paperwork in for a long time," he said.

A longtime employee of the N.C. Department of Agriculture, Cobb was appointed commissioner of that department by Easley after former head Meg Scott Phipps left office in the wake of a scandal.

Cobb unsuccessfully ran for Agriculture commissioner in 2004 and was then appointed secretary of administration by Easley in 2006. Having retired from politics once already, he said he'll "never say never" to coming back.

"It's kind of like Sen. (Tony) Rand said one time, once it's in your blood, the only thing that will get it out is embalming fluid," he said.

State Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro is considered to be a potential secretary of Administration under Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue.

Roy Cooper says he investigates corruption too.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general e-mailed Dome today to note that the State Bureau of Investigation, which he oversees, also played a role in the corruption cases mentioned in a recent N&O article.

In a sidebar to the story, we had written that the Eastern District U.S. Attorney's office brought down a number of prominent Democrats in recent years, including Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps, former Speaker Jim Black, U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance and lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings.

Spokeswoman Noelle Talley said that the SBI was involved in those cases and more than 450 public corruption cases over the past eight years.

"Keep in mind that under state law, our office can take over criminal prosecution of cases when requested to by local District Attorneys," she wrote. "We are often asked by DAs to prosecute cases against public officials including sheriffs, judges, state legislators and others."

She added that Cooper has pushed for the legislature to give his office the power to convene investigative grand juries in public corruption cases.

As we noted, federal prosecutors have more powerful grand juries than state and local prosecutors.

If the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District were a hunter, he'd have some nice trophies.

Over the past eight years, federal prosecutors based in Raleigh have taken down some big Democratic game as part of their anti-corruption efforts.

A short list:

Meg Scott Phipps. The former Agriculture commissioner spent three years in prison for fraud and extortion over inappropriate use of campaign funds.

Jim Black. The former longtime speaker of the N.C. House is serving time for taking $29,000 in bribes from chiropractors who wanted him to push legislation.

Michael Decker. The former state representative is serving time for taking more than $63,000 in cash and campaign checks from Black to switch parties.

Frank Ballance. The former Congressman is serving time for diverting $100,000 in public money he helped direct to a nonprofit to his law firm, church and family.

Garey Ballance. The son of Rep. Ballance, a Democratic district court judge, served time for failing to report money he received from his father to buy a Lincoln Navigator.

Kevin Geddings. The former state lottery commissioner is serving time for failing to disclose that he worked for a lottery vendor when he took his seat.

The U.S. attorney's office may have also helped investigate former Rep. Thomas Wright, who was found guilty in state courts of improperly spending campaign donations, though it has never confirmed or denied the assistance.

Not all of their targets were Democrats, either. Federal prosecutors also put former state GOP chairman and former U.S. attorney Sam Currin in prison for laundering money for a client.