State Board of Elections chairman Larry Leake said the board would still like to talk to Ruffin Poole, a patronage boss, lawyer and aide to former Gov. Mike Easley.

The N.C. Court of Appeals was considering Friday a judge's order granting Poole the right to not testify to the board.

The Board of Elections members are, from left, Anita Earls, Bob Cordle, Larry Leake, Charles Winfree and Bill Peaslee.

Staff photo by Shawn Rocco.

THE FIXER: Ruffin Poole wasn't just a lawyer for Gov. Mike Easley. He was a patronage boss and a fixer and witnesses testified that he was a go-to guy for things like boat dock permits. Poole successfully quashed a subpoena to testify in the State Board of Elections hearings into Easley's campaign finances. (N&O)

MESSAGE FAIL: Mailers sent by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina meant to raise opposition to a public insurance option have stirred up anger and led people to get vocal about supporting the option. (N&O) 

SO CLOSE: The South Carolina legislature is headed to a special session, and economic development incentives, possibly for Boeing, may be on the agenda. North Carolina was eliminated early by the aerospace builder for its 787 plant. (The State)

The first day of the State Board of Elections hearing included plenty of big moments.

Here are four highlights of today's testimony.

HOUSE WORK: Gov. Mike Easley had problems with the renters in his Raleigh home. He asked his friend and political supporter, McQueen Campbell to take care of it. Twice Campbell fixed up the house at a cost of $11,000 or more. Campbell testified that when he asked Easley for money, he understood the governor wanted him to file a false invoice for a flight.

WASN'T ME: Easley's defense may be geared around putting blame on others. Easley's lawyer took pains to point out that Easley never told Campbell to falsify invoices and that Easley's campaign didn't pay for flights because Campbell never submitted invoices for them.

WISH LIST: Fundraiser Lanny Wilson briefed Easley on a host of helpful facts to get him ready for his meeting with Gary Allen, a Charlotte fundraiser. Easley needed to know that Allen wanted to keep his seat on the Wildlife Commission and was trying to get a permit for a boat dock. The meeting went well. Allen gave $50,000 to the N.C. Democratic Party.

PARTY MAN: Easley fundraisers said they were told by Easley's campaign that big checks given to the party would go to the Easley campaign. The message was delivered Wilson said, by Easley attorney and aide Ruffin Poole.

A eastern North Carolina developer, fundraiser and Board of Transportation member testified that he gave checks to the Democratic Party that he expected to be in turn given to former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign.

Lanny Wilson said he and his wife wrote checks to the Easley campaign and were told to re-write the checks for the N.C. Democratic Party.

"It was my understanding that they would flow through the state Democratic Party and the Easley Committee would pay expenses," Wilson said.

Wilson said representatives of the Easley campaign told him it was legal to write checks to the party that were meant for Easley.

State law limits contributions to a candidate to $4,000 per election cycle. There is no limit on contributions to a political party, but checks cannot be designated for a specific purpose.

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Ruffin Poole, who was Gov. Mike Easley's special counsel, does not have to testify in the State Board of Elections hearings, a Superior Court judge has ruled.

Judge Henry Barnette said that Poole was correct in claiming attorney-client privilege in a motion filed this morning in Wake County.

Update: The board voted to appeal the judge's order.

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.

Ruffin Poole, who was special counsel to Gov. Mike Easley said his testimony would violate the attorney-client privilege.

Poole filed a motion to quash his subpoena to testify before the board. In the filing, Poole states that he cannot testify because the rules governing the conduct of lawyers would prohibit his testimony.

Poole is seeking to have a judge review an affidavit in private and rule that he does not have to testify.

Correction: Post updates Poole's role in Easley's administration. 

Ruffin Poole, former general counsel to former Gov. Mike Easley has filed a lawsuit seeking to quash a subpoena that would have required him to testify today.

Poole, who is now a law partner to Easley, sued the board Monday. Board chairman Larry Leake said the board was served just before noon.

The Attorney General's office is handling the board's position on the lawsuit.  

Gov. Beverly Perdue is scheduled to speak at a fundraiser for Virginia State Sen. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic nominee for governor in the Old Dominion, on Oct. 1.

The event is at the Capital City Club has a suggested minimum contribution of $500 and an A-list of hosts that includes former Gov. Jim Hunt, Democratic organizer and fundraiser Bruce Thompson, uberfundraiser Peter Reichard and Ruffin Poole, lawyer and former aide to Gov. Mike Easley. Poole most recently made the news when a federal grand jury investigating issues surrounding Easley asked for volumes of communication between the Department of Motor Vehicles and a handful of then-Easley aides, including Poole.

Deeds had been trailing behind the Republican nominee, former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell. But McDonnell has been on defense since a recent Washington Post report by N&O alum Amy Gardner highlighted his graduate school thesis while at CBN (now Regent) University, founded by televangelist Pat Robertson. The thesis, among other arguments, characterized working women and feminists as "detrimental to the family." The thesis was written in 1989, but the Post chronicled how McDonnell has pursued 10 of the policy goals articulated in the paper during his 14-year public career.