Tag search result

With one witness left, the State Board of Elections hearings are almost complete.

It's too early to say how the board will decide the case, or if any findings will be issued. But four key issues have emerged. Here's a run down, prepared by reporters Dan Kane and J. Andrew Curliss, of what Easley or his associates could be facing. 

The board will likely decide whether to ask for charges related to four issues:

1) A 2000 GMC Yukon SUV provided to Easley's campaign that did not appear in election reports

2) Air travel provided by Easley fundraiser McQueen Campbell and others that did not appear in election reports

3) Repairs to Easley's personal residence in Raleigh that were paid for by his campaign

4) Allegations that Easley donors were told to give to the N.C. Democratic Party, which would then turn over the money to Easley's campaigns.

Car dealer Robert F. Bleecker testified that he gave Gov. Mike Easley an SUV to lease with little more than a handshake and a promise to pay for it later.

Bleecker testified that the lease had no finite limit. He was waiting for the Easley's to let him know when they were done. And through a paperwork error, the Easleys were paying insurance on another, more expensive car that they had rejected.

Bleecker's dealership paid the insurance on the SUV they kept.

"The only customer you've ever treated in this fashion was Gov. Easley," Board of Elections chairman Larry Leake.

Bleecker acknowledged that no one else got that deal.

There's a bad recession on, but there's a lot of billable hours being added up in the State Board of Elections hearing room.

Whatever comes of the Gov. Mike Easley hearings, the proceeding has given a boost to a bunch of lawyers.

Gov. Mike Easley has his lawyer, Thomas Hicks (pictured at the far right). Hicks worked as a prosecutor under Easley when Easley was a district attorney in Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties.

Jim Cooney (pictured next to Hicks) is representing the N.C. Democratic Party. Cooney represented exonerated Duke University lacrosse player Reade Seligmann and former death row inmate Alan Gell.

John Wallace and David Long are representing the Easley campaign.

Ruffin Poole, a lawyer himself, came with his attorney, Joseph Zeszotarski.

Car dealer Robert F. Bleecker testified with his lawyer, Dan Boyce, sitting behind him. There are at least a half dozen other lawyers or paralegals in the room.

Correction: Post now includes correct information about where Easley was a District Attorney.

It's well known that state Sen. Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, and former governor Mike Easley were close allies. Rand was Easley's go-to person in the legislature.

But these days, Rand says they aren't speaking, J. Andrew Curliss reports. It's because of the federal investigation, Rand said, that also includes a Rand buddy, car dealer Robert F. Bleecker. Easley's son was apparently driving a Bleecker-owned car for years. The Easley campaign recently amended reports to show it was first a campaign vehicle and then was used for "personal" reasons since mid-2005.

Rand is on Bleecker's dealership board of directors.

Rand said his friendship with Bleecker goes back 30 years and he thought it best to not talk with the former governor while the probes are ongoing.

New records filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles shed light on what transpired in late March as the News & Observer began asking questions about two cars the Easley family had been driving but did not own.

One vehicle was a Honda Accord driven by Mary Easley, but owned by a Rick Hendrick dealership in Charlotte.

The other was a GMC Yukon driven by Mike Easley Jr., but owned by the dealership of Robert F. Bleecker in Red Springs.

The newspaper first posed questions in detail to Hendrick on March 25 and to the Easleys and Bleecker on March 26, Andy Curliss reports.

The Bleecker Olds Buick GMC dealership paid property taxes for 2003, 2004 and 2005 on the SUV that the campaign of Gov. Mike Easley says it was using then.

New records from the Robeson County tax office show the taxes were paid each year. The combined total was $459.81, Andy Curliss reports.

The additional information means that the Bleecker dealership, which is based in Red Springs, had spent at least $18,184 on the vehicle — a figure that does not include insurance for six years the dealership also paid.

This month, after reports of the car became public, Easley or his campaign paid the Bleecker dealership $13,595 on the vehicle, an amount that is for the use of the car during the campaign and then Easley's subsequent purchase of it this month.

A campaign lawyer for Easley, John Wallace, has refused to discuss the issue. Attempts to reach Easley have been unsuccessful.

So it remains unclear why Easley hasn't paid for the full value of the vehicle.

It's also unclear who from the Easley campaign used the vehicle in 2003, 2004 and the first part of 2005. Easley won re-election in November 2004.

The State Board of Elections is looking into the matter.

Gov. Beverly Perdue was mum on the investigation of former Gov. Mike Easley's use of automobiles.

"I am seeing the same reports you are seeing and reading the same stores you are reading," Perdue said when asked about the stories during an impromptu news conference this afternoon. "I look forward to the facts being put out there."

Questions have been raised about automobiles that Easley's wife Mary and son Michael were provided by a Fayetteville car dealer, Rob Christensen reports.

Curious about the math on the SUV Mike Easley Jr. was driving?

Several readers have been following reports that the former governor's son and his campaign have made payments related to the use of the vehicle, Andy Curliss reports.

A breakdown shows Bleecker still has more money in the vehicle than what Easley or his campaign have paid him.

After the jump, the math.

Former Gov. Mike Easley now says his son was driving a campaign car.

Easley says a 2000 GMC Yukon owned by a Robeson County dealership was "made available" for use as a campaign vehicle in early 2003, according to documents filed with the State Board of Elections Friday and Monday.

The campaign used the SUV in 2003 and 2004 and part of 2005, wrote the lawyer, John Wallace of Wallace & Nordan in Raleigh. From mid-2005 on, it was used for "personal purposes."

Records show that neither Easley nor his campaign made any payments on the Yukon until this month.

Asked last month about the car, Easley had said in an e-mail that it was leased, though records show it was never part of a lease. (N&O)

A Fayetteville car dealer who provided a vehicle for use by the family of former Gov. Mike Easley has been interviewed by federal authorities, his lawyer says.

Gardner Altman, corporate attorney for Robert F. Bleecker, confirmed today that Bleecker was cooperating with investigators:

"Bobby Bleecker has been advised by the U.S. Attorney's office that he is not the target of the grand jury investigation and that he is only a witness. The company has nothing to hide. Bobby...cooperated fully and truthfully because he sees no reason why he should not respond to any of their questions."

The News & Observer disclosed late last month that Michael Easley Jr., a UNC law student, was driving a 2000 GMC Yukon owned by one of Bleecker's dealerships. The former governor said the vehicle was part of a lease, but there were no records to support that.

Easley bought the Yukon on April 2, a week after The N&O asked about it.